Systematic study of multipactor suppression techniques for a superconducting rf gun

Future light sources such as synchrotron radiation sources driven by an energy recovery linac, free electron lasers, or THz radiation sources have in common that they require injectors, which provide high-brilliance, high-current electron beams in almost continuous operation. Thus, the development of appropriate highly brilliant electron sources is of key importance. With its superconducting radio-frequency photo-injector (SRF gun) the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf provided a promising approach for this key component, which has since been adopted in other laboratories. Nevertheless, some limitations occur caused by electron multipacting, which should be suppressed in order to further improve the gun. In this contribution, we present a detailed analysis of multipacting in the critical area of the SRF gun and different suppression techniques for it. The analytical predictions on the threshold for multipacting are qualitatively comparable with numerical simulation results and experimental data. Finally, we present specific surface structuring as an effective method to mitigate the multipacting phenomenon from the photocathode channel.