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A 3D printed pure copper drift tube linac prototype.

M Mayerhofer¹, J Mitteneder¹, G Dollinger¹

¹Institute for Applied Physics and Measurement Technology, Bundeswehr University Munich, 85577 Neubiberg, Bavaria, Germany.

The Review of Scientific Instruments

|March 2, 2022

Summary

3D printing offers a cost-effective alternative for manufacturing radio frequency cavities. A prototype 3 GHz drift tube linac (DTL) made from pure copper using selective laser melting demonstrates comparable performance to traditional methods.

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Area of Science:

Accelerator Physics
Advanced Manufacturing
Materials Science

Background:

Radio frequency cavities are critical but expensive components in accelerator facilities.
Conventional manufacturing involves multiple parts and complex joining processes like brazing.
Additive manufacturing, specifically 3D printing, presents a cost-efficient alternative with design flexibility.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate the feasibility of 3D printing a functional radio frequency cavity.
To evaluate the performance of a 3D printed pure copper drift tube linac (DTL) prototype.
To explore the potential of 3D printing for accelerator component manufacturing.

Main Methods:

A 3 GHz drift tube linac (DTL) prototype was manufactured as a single piece using selective laser melting (SLM).

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The DTL geometry was optimized for the SLM process to enhance surface quality.

The prototype was fabricated from high-purity copper.

Main Results:

The 3D printed DTL prototype achieved a quality factor of 8750 and a shunt impedance per unit length of 102 mΩm.
These performance metrics are comparable to traditionally manufactured DTL structures.
The achieved print quality for pure copper meets functional requirements for accelerator components.

Conclusions:

Selective laser melting enables the cost-effective, single-piece fabrication of complex radio frequency accelerator components like DTLs.
3D printed pure copper DTLs exhibit performance characteristics suitable for applications such as proton therapy.
Further improvements in performance are anticipated through post-printing surface treatments.