High-power performance studies of an S-band high-gradient accelerating cavity for medical applications

High-Gradient accelerating cavities are one of the main research lines in the development of compact linear accelerators. However, the operation of such accelerating cavities is currently limited by non-linear electromagnetic effects that are intensified at high electric fields, such as RF breakdowns, dark currents and radiation. A novel normal-conducting High Gradient S-band Backward Travelling Wave accelerating cavity for medical application (v = 0.38c) has been designed and constructed at CERN with a design gradient of 50 MV/m. In this paper, the high-power performance studies of this novel design carried out at the IFIC high-power laboratory are presented, as well as the analysis of the conditioning parameters in combination with numerical simulations.