20 years of experience with CW-SRF operation at ELBE

ELBE is a compact, accelerator-driven photon and particle source. The variety of secondary radiation being offered extends from high-energy gamma rays to infrared and THz radiation as well as from neutrons to positrons and electrons. Since 2001 ELBE is operated as a user facility, providing more than 5500 hours of beamtime with an efficiency of more than 90% each year. The electron accelerator is based on four superconducting 9-cell TESLA cavities that are driven in CW operation to accelerate an average current of 1 mA up to beam energies of 40 MeV. In addition an upgraded version of a superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) photoinjector was brought into operation in 2014. After a period of commissioning, a gradual transfer to routine operation took place in 2017, so that now more than 1800h of user beam are generated by this unique CW electron source every year.

The talk will summarize our experiences of operating all our SRF cavities over two decades in CW. In detail, this includes the cavity performance and attempts to improve it, as well as investigations on their limitations. Additionally, we will discuss several issues that are related to the high average RF as well as beam power and we will present appropriate measures to protect the machine. In this regard we will also introduce a resonant ring for RF component tests at CW power levels up to 100 kW. Regarding the SRF gun, the main emphasis lies in seamlessly integrating a normal-conducting photocathode into the SRF cavity, alongside addressing associated intricacies like dark current, multipacting, and contamination of the resonator.