Cryomodule Test Facility

Cryomodule Test Facility (CMTF)

The Cryomodule Test Facility (CMTF) is a research and development facility for accelerator science and technology, in particular, the testing and validating of Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) components. CMTF provides the necessary test bed to measure and characterize the performance of SRF cavities in a cryomodule. CMTF was designed to be a flexible test facility, configurable in different ways to meet the needs of current as well as future projects at Fermilab and abroad.

CMTF consists of two new adjoined buildings located adjacent to the existing NML building, and together with NML comprises a world-class facility for testing SRF components with and without beam. The smaller (4000 s.f.) Compressor Building houses the warm compressors, vacuum pumps, water cooling system and utilities for the entire facility. The larger building consists of a (15,000 s.f.) high-bay with a 20-ton overhead crane and contains two liquid helium refrigerators, two Cryomodule Test Stands (CMTS), a test area for RF components and electrical systems, a cleanroom area for particle-free preparation of SRF components, and a control room/office area.

The facility houses a large state of the art cryogenic plant capable of providing a total of 500W of cooling capacity at 2 Kelvin, that can provide simultaneous operation of the two independent test stands.

The goal of the first test stand, CMTS1, is to test cryomodules of various frequencies in pulsed or continuous wave mode. It is currently becoming operational for testing cryomodules for the LCLS-II project being built at Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC). The first cryomodule is now on the test stand and being readied for testing. CMTS1 will be used to test both 1.3 and 3.9 GHz cryomodules in Continuous Wave (CW) mode for LCLS-II.

The second test stand currently houses the PIP-II Injector Test, which is the R&D program to test the front-end of the proposed PIP-II accelerator. The beginning portions of the PIP-II accelerator are being installed and commissioned at the PIP-II Injector Test and will eventually contain two different types of cryomodules.