This review paper describes the energy-upgraded CEBAF accelerator. This superconducting linac has achieved 12 GeV beam energy by adding 11 new high-performance cryomodules containing eighty-eight superconducting cavities that have operated CW at an average accelerating gradient of 20 MV/m. After reviewing the attributes and performance of the previous 6 GeV CEBAF accelerator, we discuss the upgraded CEBAF accelerator system in detail with particular attention paid to the new beam acceleration systems. In addition to doubling the acceleration in each linac, the upgrade included improving the beam recirculation magnets, adding more helium cooling capacity to allow the newly installed modules to run cold, adding a new experimental hall, and improving numerous other accelerator components. We review several of the techniques deployed to operate and analyze the accelerator performance, and document system operating experience and performance. In the final portion of the document, we present much of the current planning regarding projects to improve accelerator performance and enhance operating margins, and our plans for ensuring CEBAF operates reliably into the future. For the benefit of potential users of CEBAF, the performance and quality measures for beam delivered to each of the experimental halls is summarized in the appendix.

At the electron linac for beams with high brilliance and low emittance (ELBE) center for high-power radiation sources, the second version of a superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) photoinjector has been put into operation and has been routinely applied for user operation at the ELBE electron accelerator. SRF guns are suitable for generating a continuous wave electron beam with high average currents and high beam brightness. The SRF gun at ELBE has the goal to generate short electron pulses with bunch charges of 200-300 pC at typical repetition rates of 100 kHz for the production of superradiant, coherent terahertz radiation. The SRF gun includes a 3.5-cell, 1.3-GHz niobium cavity and a superconducting solenoid. A support system with liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooling allows the operation of normal-conducting, high quantum efficiency photocathodes. We present the design and performance of the SRF gun as well as beam measurement results of the operation with Mg photocathodes at an acceleration gradient of 8 MV/m (4 MeV kinetic energy). In the last section, we discuss the SRF gun application for production of coherent terahertz radiation at the ELBE facility.

An increase in the quality factor of superconducting radiofrequency cavities is achieved by minimizing the surface resistance during processing steps. The surface resistance is the sum of temperature independent residual resistance and temperature/material dependent Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) resistance. High temperature heat treatment usually reduces the impurities concentration from the bulk niobium, lowering the residual resistance. The BCS part can be reduced by selectively doping non-magnetic impurities. The increase in quality factor, termed as Q-rise, was observed in cavities when titanium or nitrogen thermally diffused in the inner cavity surface.

Activities of the past several years in developing the technique of forming seamless (weldless) cavity cells by hydroforming are summarized. An overview of the technique developed at DESY for the fabrication of single cells and multicells of the TESLA cavity shape is given and the major rf results are presented. The forming is performed by expanding a seamless tube with internal water pressure while simultaneously swaging it axially. Prior to the expansion the tube is necked at the iris area and at the ends. Tube radii and axial displacements are computer controlled during the forming process in accordance with results of finite element method simulations for necking and expansion using the experimentally obtained strain-stress relationship of tube material. In cooperation with industry different methods of niobium seamless tube production have been explored. The most appropriate and successful method is a combination of spinning or deep drawing with flow forming. Several single-cell niobium cavities of the 1.3 GHz TESLA shape were produced by hydroforming. They reached accelerating gradients E-acc up to 35 MV/m after buffered chemical polishing (BCP) and up to 42 MV/m after electropolishing (EP). More recent work concentrated on fabrication and testing of multi cell and nine-cell cavities. Several seamless two-and three-cell units were explored. Accelerating gradients E-acc of 30-35 MV/m were measured after BCP and E-acc up to 40 MV/m were reached after EP. Nine-cell niobium cavities combining three three-cell units were completed at the company E. Zanon. These cavities reached accelerating gradients of E-acc = 30-35 MV/m. One cavity is successfully integrated in an XFEL cryomodule and is used in the operation of the FLASH linear accelerator at DESY. Additionally the fabrication of bimetallic single-cell and multicell NbCu cavities by hydroforming was successfully developed. Several NbCu clad single-cell and double-cell cavities of the TESLA shape have been fabricated. The clad seamless tubes were produced using hot bonding or explosive bonding and subsequent flow forming. The thicknesses of Nb and Cu layers in the tube wall are about 1 and 3 mm respectively. The rf performance of the best NbCu clad cavities is similar to that of bulk Nb cavities. The highest accelerating gradient achieved was 40 MV/m. The advantages and disadvantages of hydroformed cavities are discussed in this paper.

The bERLinPro project, a small superconducting RF (SRF) c.w. energy recovery linac (ERL) is being built at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin in order to develop the technology required for operation of a high current, 100 mA, 50 MeV ERL. The electron source for the accelerator is a 1.4 cell SRF photoinjector fitted with a multi-alkali photocathode. As part of the HZB photoinjector development program three different SRF photoinjectors will be fabricated and tested. The photoinjector described herein is the second cavity that has been fabricated, and the first photoinjector designed for use with a multi-alkali photocathode. The photoinjector has been built and tested at JLab and subsequently shipped to HZB for testing in the horizontal test cryostat HoBiCaT prior to installation in the photoinjector cryomodule. This cryomodule will be used to measure the photocathode operation in a dedicated experiment called GunLab, the precursor to installation in the bERLinPro hall. This paper will report on the final results of the cavity installed in the helium vessel in the vertical testing dewar at Jefferson Lab as well as the first horizontal test in HoBiCaT.

As a result of collaboration between Jefferson Lab and niobium manufacturer Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), ingot niobium was explored as a possible material for superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavity fabrication. The first single cell cavity from large-grain high purity niobium was fabricated and successfully tested at Jefferson Lab in 2004. This work triggered research activities in other SRF laboratories around the world. Large-grain (LG) niobium became not only an interesting alternative material for cavity builders, but also material scientists and surface scientists were eager to participate in the development of this technology. Many single cell cavities made from material of different suppliers have been tested successfully and several multi-cell cavities have shown performances comparable to the best cavities made from standard fine-grain niobium. Several 9-cell cavities fabricated by Research Instruments and tested at DESY exceeded the best performing fine grain cavities with a record accelerating gradient of Eacc=45.6MV/m. The quality factor of those cavities was also higher than that of fine-grain (FG) cavities processed with the same methods. Such performance levels push the state-of-the art of SRF technology and are of great interest for future accelerators. This contribution reviews the development of ingot niobium technology and highlights some of the differences compared to standard FG material and opportunities for further developments.

Several Nb ingots have been provided by CBMM to Jefferson Lab since 2004 as part of an R&D collaboration aimed at evaluating the performance of superconducting radio-frequency cavities built from ingots with different purity, as a results of different ingot production processes. Approximately 32 multi-and single-cell cavities with resonant frequency between similar to 1.3-2.3 GHz were built, treated and tested at 2 K at Jefferson Lab between 2004 and 2014. The average peak surface field achieved in cavities made of RRR similar to 260 and RRR similar to 100-150 ingots was (119 +/- 4) mT and (100 +/- 8) mT, respectively. Higher quality factor values at 2.0 K have been measured in medium-purity, compared to higher purity material.

A combination of a ultra high vacuum arc deposition system and a recrystallization method was used to optimize the smoothness and thickness of thin-layer lead cathodes for superconducting niobium electron injectors. A non-filtered arc system was chosen to deposit Pb films on niobium. The films then underwent melting and recrystallization by treating them with pulsed argon ion beams in a rod plasma injector.

In order to produce high-brightness electron beams in a superconducting RF photo injector, the most important point is to reach a high acceleration field in the cavity. For this reason two new 3.5-cell niobium cavities were fabricated, chemically treated and cleaned in collaboration with Jlab. The first of these two cavities was shipped to HZDR and assembled in a new cryomodule. This new gun (SRF Gun II) was installed in the ELBE accelerator hall in May 2014 and replaces the previous SRF Gun I. Beside the new cavity the ELBE SRF gun II differs from the previous gun by the integration of a superconducting solenoid. The paper presents the results of the first test run with a Cu photocathode.

The BERLinPro project is a compact, c.w. SRF energy recovery linac (ERL) that is being built to develop the accelerator physics and technology required to operate the next generation of high current ERLs. The machine is designed to produce a 50 MeV 100 mA beam, with better than 1 mm-mrad emittance. The electron source for the ERL will be a SRF photoinjector equipped with a multi-alkali photocathode. In order to produce a SRF photoinjector to operate reliably at this beam current HZB has undertaken a 3 stage photoinjector development program to study the operation of SRF photoinjectors in detail. The 1.4 cell cavity being reported on here is the second stage of this development, and represents the first cavity designed by HZB for use with a high quantum efficiency multi-alkali photocathode. This paper will describe the work done to prepare the cavity for RF testing in the vertical testing dewar at Jefferson Laboratory as well as the results of these RF tests.

Photocathodes are a limiting factor for the next generation of ultra-high brightness photoinjector driven accelerators. We studied the behavior of a superconducting Pb cathode in the cryogenic environment of a superconducting RF gun cavity related to the quantum efficiency (QE), its spatial distribution and the work function. The cathode surface contaminations can modify the performance of the photocathodeas well as the gun cavity. We discuss the possibilities to remove these contaminants.

We report the efforts undertaken at NCBJ and some of its collaborating laboratories dedicated to prepare pure and flat lead film coated onto niobium to operate as superconducting photocathodes. Three approaches to lead cathodic arc deposition have been implemented and tested: active plasma flux filtering, passive filtering and unfiltered flux. None of them allowed us to find a proper balance between thickness and surface roughness of a cathode. At that point efforts were taken to establish post-deposition heat treatment of lead film.

Photocathodes are a limiting factor for the next generation of ultrahigh brightness photoinjectors. We studied the behavior of a superconducting Pb cathode in the cryogenic environment of a superconducting rf gun cavity to measure the quantum efficiency, its spatial distribution, and the work function. We will also discuss how the cathode surface contaminants modify the performance of the photocathode as well as the gun cavity and we discuss the possibilities to remove these contaminants.

Superconducting RF photo guns are suitable candidates for electron injectors in future free-electron lasers and energy recovery linacs. For the radiation source ELBE an SRF gun was build and put into operation. During longterm tests, the operation of normal-conducting photocathodes in the superconducting cavity has been successfully demonstrated. At moderate average currents of some hundreds of µA the Cs2Te photocathodes possess long lifetime. The acceleration gradient is the key parameters for emittance and the maximum achievable bunch charge of the gun. Therefore two new cavities with higher performance were developed, built and treated. The final tests of these cavities are ongoing. An upgraded cryomodule with an integrated superconducting solenoid was built. ELBE SRF PHOTO GUN The superconducting radio-frequency photoelectron gun (SRF gun) has been developed for the injection of a highbrightness, medium average current (about 1 mA), and continuous wave (CW) beam into the ELBE linac. Due to its potential advantages, consisting in the combination of high-brightness and CW operation, this electron gun type is suitable for future use in energy recovery linacs and next-generation light sources. At ELBE the SRF gun will deliver beam in two operation modes: (a) the FEL mode with 13 MHz repetition rate and up to 80 pC bunch charge, and (b) the high-charge mode with 500 kHz repetition rate and up to 1 nC bunch charge. The superconducting cavity, the main part of the SRF gun, consists of three TESLA cells and one optimized half-cell. The gun uses normal-conducting Cs2Te photo cathodes with high quantum efficiency, illuminated with a picosecond ultraviolet laser. The cathode is placed in the cavity half-cell isolated by a 1 mm vacuum gap and cooled with liquid nitrogen. Additionally, a resonant superconducting choke filter surrounds the cathode and serves to prevent RF leakage through the coaxial vacuum gap. Details of the SRF gun design have been published earlier [1]. At ELBE the SRF gun is installed in parallel to the thermionic injector, which is used as injector for user operation most of the time. An extra diagnostic beamline connected to the SRF gun serves for characterization of the electron beam. Furthermore a dogleg-like beamline section with two 45°-bending magnets allows for injection of the SRF gun beam into ELBE (see Fig. 1). SRF GUN OPERATION With the present niobium cavity, produced by the company ACCEL (now RI) and surface-treated at DESY, the SRF gun has been in operation since 2007. It turned out that the usual cleaning procedures applied for TESLA cells are hampered for the SRF gun cavity, mainly due to the narrow cathode channel and the presence of the choke filter cell. For that reason, the processing attempts were not as successful as expected. The achieved peak field in the vertical test was limited by field emission to peak field of 23 MV/m at a Q0 = 1×10 10