Device and Technique for In-situ Coating of the RHIC Cold Bore Vacuum Tubes with Thick OFHC

To mitigate electron clouds & unacceptable ohmic heating problems in RHIC, we developed a robotic plasma deposition technique & device to in-situ coat the RHIC 316LN SS cold bore tubes based on mobile mole mounted magnetrons for OFHC deposition. Scrubbed Cu has low SEY and suppress electron cloud formation. Room temperature RF resistivity measurement of Cu coated SS RHIC tube samples indicate that 10 μm of Cu coating has conductivity close to copper tubing. A 50 cm long copper cathode magnetron, mounted on a carriage with spring loaded wheels, was successfully operated, traversed magnet interconnect bellows and adjusted for variations in vacuum tube diameter, while keeping the magnetron centered. To maximize cathode lifetime, Cu cathode thickness was maximized its gap to vacuum tube minimized; movable magnet package is used. Novel cabling and vacuum-atmosphere interface system is being developed. Deposition experiments show no indentation in or damage to coating after wheels roll over coated areas; i.e. train like assembly option is a viable for in-situ RHIC coating. Details of experimental setup & coating of full-scale magnet tube sandwiched between bellows will be presented.