Multipacting is a resonance phenomenon that involves electron emission and dynamics in high electric fields at the vacuum chamber or cavity walls in acceleration systems. In this award, the physics giving rise to the electron emission and dynamics will be studied. Experiments will be conducted with superconducting undulators (SCU) at the Argonne National Laboratory Advanced Photon Source (the APS) and the data analyzed. A combination of analytical and numerical computation will be used to analyze the physics, and the results will be compared with the experimental data where available.
The broader impacts of the work are significant as the development of SCU has considerable benefits in enhancing the capabilities of synchrotron light sources, particularly for hard-x-ray sources. Multipacting is also an important challenge for other machines, for example electron-positron and proton proton colliders. Carrying out the research on site at the APS will provide direct training of a student in accelerator science and operation, an opportunity that is not readily accessible outside of an operating synchrotron facility.