Thin Film Coatings for Suppressing Electron Multipacting in Particle Accelerators

Thin film coatings are an effective way for suppressing electron multipacting in particle accelerators. For bakeable beam pipes, the TiZrV Non Evaporable Getter (NEG) developed at CERN can provide a Secondary Electron Yield (SEY) of 1.1 after activation at 180oC (24h). The coating process was implemented in large scale to coat the long straight sections and the experimental beam pipes for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). For non bakeable beam pipes, as those of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), CERN started a campaign to develop a coating having a low SEY without need of in situ heating. Magnetron sputtered carbon thin films have shown SEY of 1 with marginal deterioration when exposed in air for months. This material is now being tested in both laboratory and accelerator environment. At CERN’s SPS, tests with electron cloud monitors attached to carbon coated chambers show no degradation of the coating after two years of operation interleaved with a total of 3 months of air exposure during shutdown periods. This paper presents the SEY characteristics of both TiZrV and carbon films, the coating processes and the proposed route towards large scale production for the carbon coatings.