Bond integrity of microwave absorbers for CEBAF

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) uses superconducting niobium cavities. Specially developed microwave absorbing ceramics are used in the cavities to absorb the higher order mode power. The ceramic absorbers are brazed to copper mounts. The structural integrity and the thermal contact of the braze joints are essential. The ultrasonic reflection signal from the various bonds is evaluated to locate voids and partial braze surfaces. The acoustic wave properties of the four components of the structure are used as input to an ultrasonic transmission line model which is compared to the experimental data. There is good correlation between the ultrasonic reflection data and destructive testing of the bonds