Simulations and Vacuum Tests of a CLIC Accelerating Structure

The Compact LInear Collider, under study, is based on room temperature high gradient structures. The vacuum specificities of these cavities are low conductance, large surface areas and a non-baked system. The main issue is to reach UHV conditions (typically 10-7 Pa) in a system where the residual vacuum is driven by water outgassing. A finite element model based on an analogy thermal/vacuum has been built to estimate the vacuum profile in an accelerating structure. Vacuum tests are carried out in a dedicated set-up, the vacuum performances of different configurations are presented and compared with the predictions.