Cathode Insert Design for SC RF Guns

The cathode inserts in superconducting (SC) RF guns are normal conducting devices attached to a SC RF gun cavity. They enable the photocathode replacement and, at the same time, preserve high quality factor and high fields in the RF guns. However, the insert may also limit the gun performance because of multipacting etc. The experience gathered in early designs at Wuppertal [1], and, more recently at BNL [2] and HZDR [3] is taken into account. We consider the design structure of the cathode insert worked out by BINP for 1 cell prototype of SC HZDR RF gun [4]. The detailed electric, mechanic, and thermal calculations of the initial [4] and the upgraded design are presented in this paper.