Superconducting crab cavities are an important component of the large particle accelerators used in research, such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Named for the apparent sideways movement of the proton bunches as they move through the narrowest part of the crab cavity, these cavities are used to provide transverse deflection or “tilt” to the proton bunches emitted from the accelerator beams. This tilt enhances the overlap of the proton beams at the collision point which increases the probability of particle collisions and maximizes the power of the accelerator system.
In 1999 the A15 cavity was designed at Fermi National Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, IL for the development of a separated K+ beam that would operate at 3.9 GHz. Early computational studies of the A15 cavity showed discrepancy with experimental studies which put into doubt the ability to use simulation tools for studies. Unable to resolve this discrepancy with existing simulation tools, Dr. Leo Belantoni of Fermilab reached out to the team at Tech-X.
