Abstract: Niobium is the superconductor of choice for all superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities operating in particle accelerators today. Nb3Sn is a promising new material for SRF cavities, which has been under development and is now reaching performance levels that are useful for first applications. Its relatively high critical temperature allows it to operate efficiently at higher temperatures than niobium, making it especially promising for cryocooler-based accelerator modules. Its high upper critical field allows it to operate with reasonably high quality factors in multi-tesla magnetic fields, making it a potentially advantageous choice for haloscopes to search for axion-based dark matter.
In this talk, I will discuss the development of this SRF material, first demonstrations towards practical usage, and some first prototype accelerators and dark matter search platforms under development now.