A novel method has been developed that allows extracting the loaded quality factor of particle accelerating radio-frequency cavities at any time during beam operation from acquired control system process parameters without the need of additional measurement equipment. Concurrently it assesses the attenuation in a cavities’ power transmission line for any rf generator to rf cavity mismatch condition, and thus can correct calibration inaccuracies of measured forward and reflected power levels. The mathematical formalism is described. It is specifically derived for cryogenically cooled superconducting cavities for which the loaded quality factor can be equated with the external quality factor of the input power coupler. The described method has been applied for 418 superconducting cavities in operation at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The validation of the method as well as its beneficial use as a diagnostic tool is demonstrated for a finite number of examples utilizing process variables archived during a period in the past when the linac beam current was ramped up multiple times. The method is in the process of being implemented in the machines’ control system for an in situ and in operando evaluation of the power coupler’s external quality factor.

• Received 28 October 2020
• Accepted 22 February 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.24.032001

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Published by the American Physical Society