Ignition and monitoring technique for plasma processing of multicell superconducting radio-frequency cavities

An in-situ plasma processing technique has been developed at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) to improve the performance of the superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities in operation. The technique uses a low-density reactive neon-oxygen plasma at room-temperature to improve the surface work function, to help remove adsorbed gases on the RF surface, and to reduce its secondary emission yield. SNS SRF cavities have six accelerating cells and the plasma typically ignites in the cell where the electric field is the highest. This article details the technique to ignite and monitor the plasma in each cell of the SNS cavities.