Design and first cold test of BNL superconducting 112 MHz QWR for electron gun applications

Brookhaven National Laboratory and Niowave, Inc. have designed, fabricated, and performed the first cold test of a superconducting 112 MHz quarter-wave resonator (QWR) for electron gun experiments. The first cold test of the QWR cryomodule has been completed at Niowave. The paper discusses the cryomodule design, presents the cold test results, and outline plans to upgrade the cryomodule for future experiments. A quarter-wave resonator concept of superconducting RF (SRF) electron gun was proposed at BNL for electron cooling ion/proton beams at RHIC. QWRs can be made sufficiently compact even at low RF frequencies (long wavelengths). The long wavelength allows to produce long electron bunches, thus minimizing space charge effects and enabling high bunch charge. Also, such guns should be suitable for experiments requiring high average current electron beams. A 112 MHz QWR gun was designed, fabricated, and cold-tested in collaboration between BNL and Niowave. This is the lowest frequency SRF gun ever tested successfully. In this paper we describe the gun design and fabrication, present the cold test results, and outline plans for the cryomodule upgrade for future experiments.