Stabilization Strategies for Drift Tube Linacs

The average axial electric fields in drift tube linac cavities are known to be sensitive with respect to the perturbation errors. Postcoupler is a powerful stabilizer devices that is used to reduce this sensitivity of average axial field. Postcouplers are the cylindrical rod which is extended from cavity wall toward the drift tube without touching the drift tube surface. Postcouplers need to be adjusted to the right length to stabilize the average axial field. Although postcouplers are used successfully in many projects, there is no straightforward procedure for postcouplers adjustment and it has been done almost based on trial and errors. In this thesis, the physics and characteristics of postcouplers has been studied by using an equivalent circuit model and 3D finite element method calculations. Finally, a straightforward and accurate method to adjust postcouplers has been concluded. The method has been verified by using experimental measurements on CERN Linac4 drift tube linac cavities.