William and Mary Physics Graduate Student Recipient of DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program award
Matt Burton has received a Department of Energy, Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program award. Between 50 to 100 of these fellowships are awarded nationally each year. Fellows receive up to three years of support and are selected based on academic achievement and how the research project supports the strategic missions of the DOE Office of Science.
Mr. Burton proposed a project entitled "Development and Characterization of Superconducting Thin Films for SRF Accelerator Cavities", which will be conducted at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF). Working with William and Mary Prof. A. Lukaszew, his research will focus on improving superconducting radio-frequency resonant cavities used in linear accelerators. Particle accelerators based on current state of the art cavities built from Niobium have hit a fundamental upper limit on the magnetic field they can support. To achieve higher fields, new designs focus on thin film and multilayer coatings using new materials with extremely low radio frequency surface impedance and higher thermal conductivity than that currently available. Mr. Burton's research will involve developing techniques to deposit the thin films on interior surfaces of existing cavities, then testing those cavities.
