Dark current analysis at CERN’s X-band facility

Dark current is particularly relevant during operation in high-gradient linear accelerators. Resulting from the capture of field emitted electrons, dark current produces additional radiation that needs to be accounted for in experiments. In this paper, an analysis of dark current is presented for four accelerating structures that were tested and conditioned in CERN’s X-band test facility for CLIC. The dependence on power, and therefore on accelerating gradient, of the dark current signals is presented. The Fowler-Nordheim equation for field emission seems to be in accordance with the experimental data. Moreover, the analysis shows that the current intensity decreases as a function of time due to conditioning, but discrete jumps in the dark current signals are present, probably caused by breakdown events that change the emitters’ location and intensity.