Second Sound for Heat Source Localization

Defects on the surface of superconducting cavities can limit their accelerating gradient by localized heating. This results in a phase transition to the normal conduction state | a quench. A new application, involving Oscillating Superleak Transducers (OST) to locate such quench inducing heat spots on the surface of the cavities, has been developed by D. Hartill et al. at Cornell University in 2008. The OSTs enable the detection of heat transfer via second sound in super uid helium. This thesis presents new results on the analysis of their signal. Its behavior has been studied for dierent circumstances at setups at the University of Gottingen and at CERN. New approaches for an automated signal processing have been developed. Furthermore, a rst test setup for a single-cell Superconducting Proton Linac (SPL) cavity has been prepared. Recommendations of a better signal retrieving for its operation are presented.