Gradient optimization for SC CW accelerators

The proposed rare isotope accelerator (RIA) design consists of a normally conducting radio frequency quadruple (RFQ) section, a superconducting (SC) drift tube cavity section, a SC elliptical multi-cell cavity section and two charge strippers with associated charge state selection and beam matching optics. The SC elliptical section uses two or three multi-cell beta cavity types installed into cryomodules to span the energy region of about 84.5 MeV/nucleon up to 400 MeV/nucleon. This paper focuses on the gradient optimization of these SC elliptical cavities that provide a significant portion of the total acceleration to the beam. The choice of gradient coupled with the cavity quality factor has a strong affect on the overall cost of the accelerator. The paper describes the optimization of the capital and operating cost associated with the RIA elliptical cavity cryomodules.