Speaker
Description
Lightweight, copper plated PEEK RF cavities offer a path to compact, low cost accelerators. We describe the design and fabrication of PEEK structures that are selectively metallized with high conductivity copper on RF surfaces, and outline a verification workflow used to qualify these cavities. Cavity quality factor (Q) is measured with a VNA using a critically coupled and a weakly coupled probe; from this the Q0 can be calculated and compared to a machined copper baseline. Power handling is evaluated under pulsed conditions, including RF conditioning, measurement of temperature rise and frequency drift. PEEK cavities that were doped with glass or carbon fibers were also tested to accommodate expansion of the copper plating by changing the thermal expansion rate of the PEEK to better match copper. Compared with solid copper, plated PEEK cavities reduce mass substantially due to the plastic substrate and enable rapid, geometry rich fabrication, but require careful thermal management and plating continuity to limit ohmic loss and detuning. Results indicate that, for moderate power levels, copper plated PEEK can approach copper like Q and stable operation while delivering significant weight savings.
| Working group | WG4 |
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