A Compact, Low-Field, Broadband Matching Section for Externally-Powered X-Band Dielectric-Loaded Accelerating Structures

It has been technically challenging to efficiently couple external radiofrequency (RF) power to cylindrical dielectric-loaded accelerating (DLA) structures. This is especially true when the DLA structure has a high dielectric constant. This contribution presents a novel design of a matching section for coupling the RF power from a circular waveguide to an X-band DLA structure with a dielectric constant ε_{r}=16.66 and a loss tangent \tanθ = 3.43× 10⁻⁵. It consists of a very compact dielectric disk with a width of 2.035 mm and a tilt angle of 60 degrees, resulting in a broadband coupling at a low RF field which has the potential to survive in the high-power environment. To prevent a sharp dielectric corner break, a 45-degree chamfer is added. Moreover, a microscale vacuum gap, caused by metallic clamping between the thin coating and the outer thick copper jacket, is studied in detail. Based on simulation studies, a prototype of the DLA structure with the matching sections was fabricated. Results from preliminary bench measurements and their comparison with design values will also be discussed.