CRYOGENIC INFRASTRUCTURE FOR FERMILAB'S ILC VERTICAL CAVITY TEST FACILITY

Fermilab is building a Vertical Cavity Test Facility (VCTF) to provide for R&D and pre-production testing of bare 9-cell, 1.3-GHz superconducting RF (SRF) cavities for the International Linear Collider (ILC) program. This facility is located in the existing Industrial Building 1 (IB1) where the Magnet Test Facility (MTF) also resides. Helium and nitrogen cryogenics are shared between the VCTF and MTF including the existing 1500-W at 4.5-K helium refrigerator with vacuum pumping for super-fluid operation (125-W capacity at 2-K). The VCTF is being constructed in multiple phases. The first phase is scheduled for completion in mid 2007, and includes modifications to the IB1 cryogenic infrastructure to allow helium cooling to be directed to either the VCTF or MTF as scheduling demands require. At this stage, the VCTF consists of one Vertical Test Stand (VTS) cryostat for the testing of one cavity in a 2-K helium bath. Planning is underway to provide a total of three Vertical Test Stands at VCTF, each capable o...