A novel approach for automatic control of piezoelectric elements used for Lorentz force detuning compensation

Linear accelerators such as Free Electron Lasers (FELs) use superconducting (SC) resonant cavities to accelerate electron beam to high energies. TESLA type resonators are extremely sensitive to detuning induced by mechanical deformations - Lorentz force detuning (LFD), mainly due to the extremely high quality factor (Q) of the 1.3 GHz resonance mode, in the range of 10 6. The resulting modulation of a resonance frequency of the cavity makes power consumption and stability performances of the Low-Latency Radio Frequency (LLRF) control more critical. In order to minimize the RF control efforts and desired stabilities, the fast piezoelectric actuators with digital control systems are commonly used. The paper presents a novel approach for automatic control of piezoelectric actuators used for compensation of Lorentz force detuning, the practical application and carried out tests in accelerating module ACC6 in Free-Electron Laser in Hamburg (FLASH).