Superconducting materials for application to magnets

Overview of HTS and LTS superconductors and of related

measurements techniques
A. Ballarino, CERN
PhD School Italo Gorini 2018
CERN, 12/9/2018
 Outline
o Introduction
o Superconductors
o Requirements for high-field applications
o Low Temperature Superconductors: Nb-Ti and Nb3Sn
o High Temperature Superconductors: REBCO, Bi-2212 and
Bi-2223
o Superconducting cables: LTS and HTS
o Measurement techniques
o Conclusions
 Liquefaction of helium gas Resistence vs Temperature

1908 Leiden physics

laboratory, The Netherlands
K. Onnes reached 4.2 K -
and lowered temperature
down to 1.8 K
Liquefaction of helium
enabled discovery of
superconductivity in
mercury in 1911
Kamerlingh Onnes: Nobel prize in Physics in 1913 “for his
investigations on the properties of matter at low temperatures
which led, inter alia, to the production of liquid helium”
 Onnes: thoughts on 10 T magnet (Chicago, 1913 !)

First superconducting
magnet 600 Gauss (0.06 T)

Lead wire

But: resistance
developed at 0.8 A

More than 40 years were

needed for experimental
high-field magnets !
Superconducting elements
 Type I and Type II Superconductors
Type I

 Type I (most of pure metals) superconductors lose

their superconductivity at low magnetic fields lower
than 0.1 T)

 Type II superconductors (metallic compounds and

alloys) identified in 1936

Type II superconductors have wide applications

in science and technology
 History of Superconductivity
 1908 Onnes liquefies He
 1911 Onnes observe superconductivity in Hg (Type I) – Nobel prize 1913
Superconducting era starts
 1914 Persistent current experiments (Onnes) 25 years
 1933 Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect observed
 1936 Type II superconductors
 1950 Ginsburg - Landau theory – Nobel price 2003 46 years
 1957 BCS Theory (Bardeen, Cooper, Schrieffer) – Nobel Price 1972
Microscopic theory of Low Temperature Superconductivity
 1962 Josephson effect is observed
 1986 First observation superconductivity at 35 K (Bednorz, Muller)
High Temperature Superconducting era (HTS) starts
 1987 first superconductor at 92 K (above liquid Nitrogen at 77 K )
 Theory
 Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory: microscopic theory that
describes why materials are superconducting. It is derived bottom-up
from quantum mechanics

 Ginzburg-Landau theory: it describes properties of superconductors in

a magnetic field. It is derived top-down from thermodynamics. It
predicted vortex lattice and Type II superconductors. It enables
simulation of vortex dynamics – with multi-vortex systems
 Characteristic lengths
• Penetration depth (T)
• Length over which an externally applied magnetic field is screened
• Ginzburg-Landau coherence length (T)
• Length over which superconducting order can be affected
• Ginzburg Landau parameter (almost independent on
temperature):
k=/
Type I and Type II Superconductors
Type I Type II
Type II Superconductors
Pattern of fluxoids in
Type II Superconductors

Meissner state

Normal state
Mixed state
 Type II Superconductors
 Magnetic flux penetration above Bc1
Bc1 < 100 mT for Nb-Ti, N3Sn, MgB2 and HTS (REBCO, BSCCO 2223 and BSCCO 2212)

 Magnetic flux: array of flux quantized line vortices or fluxons

Vortex: tube of radius of London penetration depth (T)
Screening currents around a non-superconducting core of radius  (T)
(T) = coherence length

Flux carried by screening currents for each vortex 0 = 210-15 Wb

Normal core overlap at Bc2(T) = 0/2 0(T)2

 Type II Superconductors
 When a superconductor carries a current I:
FL = I B

 To avoid vortex motion, pinning of vortices at microstructural defects

 Process development is oriented to optimize “flux pinning”.

Pinning centres must match with the fluxons spacing. In a triangular
lattice:
 20 nm at 6 T

 Maximum pinning strength is at absolute zero

Need to pin flux lines to avoid them moving under the Lorenz force (FL)
 Technical Superconductors
• Low Temperature Superconductors
• Nb-Ti, Nb3Sn
High field applications
Industrially available
• High Temperature Superconductors
• REBCO, BSCCO 2223, BSCCO 2212

• Medium Temperature Superconductors

• MgB2 Today for medium/low fields (< 5 T)
• Iron based materials They have potential for high fields – but still a R&D material
 Superconducting materials
Tc(0) [K] Bc2(0 K) [T]  (nm)
Nb-Ti 9.5 14.4 6
LTS
Nb3Sn 18.3 28-30  4
REBCO 93 > 100 2
HTS BSCCO 2212 95 > 100 1
BSCCO 2223 110 > 100 1

Bc2(0 K) > 100 T

Bc2(0) = upper critical field at 0 K

 = coherence length
 Irreversibility field of HTS
 Bc2(T) much higher than
for Nb-Ti and Nb3Sn

 But, thermal fluctuation

effects depress the
irreversibility field
(Birr(T)) at which Jc = 0
well below Bc2, except at
low temperatures
40 K

High fields with HTS  Low (liquid helium) temperature

 HTS vs LTS for high field applications
Nb-Ti Nb3Sn

Up to  10 T Up to  15- 16 T

HTS at 4.2 K and for fields above 16 T

 High-field applications of superconductors
 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Non-invasive imaging technology.
Clinical systems operate at 1.5 T- 3 T. For higher resolution: 7 T - 10 T,
an up to 15 T

 Nuclear Magnetic Imaging (NMR)

 Research magnets

 Fusion reactors
Pushed/push superconductors/magnets
 Particle accelerators performance to exceed the frontier of
high-energy particle physics
 Superconductors for high-field applications
Needed:
 High Hirr(Top)
 High Jc(Bop,Top). Typically Jc > 106 A/mm2
 Strong vortex pinning
 Transparent grain boundaries
 Good mechanical properties
 High critical tensile stress
 High tensile, compressive and bending strains
 High Je (over total cross section)
 Acceptable cost enabling large scale applications
Superconductors for accelerator magnets (1/5)
 Very high and uniform current density to produce a large field over a
transverse aperture (JE  400 A/mm2 at the operational field);
 Multi-filamentary wire with:
 Small filaments size to:
a) reduce magnetization and assure uniform field - mainly at
injection;
b) avoid flux jump (dynamic stability);
 Filaments twisted to minimize coupling effects during ramping
(eddy currents);
 Appropriate (Cu/non Cu) ratio - minimum amount of copper needed
for stability and protection, controlled within a strict tolerance
(typically 1.5-2 ± 0.05 for accelerator magnets);
 High RRR (low resistivity) of the copper matrix/stabilizer
Accelerator magnets have always pushed the limits of superconductors
performance to beyond state-of-the-art
 Superconductors for accelerator magnets (2/5)
Small filaments size
Cylindrical filaments Magnetization for fully penetrated filaments
Small f to
4 2 reduce M
Ms  a =
J cM c df
JJc
J
f
3π 3π
M=magnetic volume per unit volume
Jc(B,T) = critical current density
f = filament diameter

Beams are injected in a circular machine at low energy (0.45 TeV, i.e. 0.54 T for dipoles in LHC)

Persistent magnetization currents

inside the individual filaments of a wire generate field distortions
 Superconductors for accelerator magnets (3/5)
 Small filaments size

Maximum stable diameter of a filament in as metal matrix Flux-jump: magnetic-thermal instability

Instability of persistent currents
 = density
c = critical temperature
Flux-jump: usually not a problem for HTS
C = specific heat
For Nb-Ti, d < 50 µm
Small filaments to avoid flux jump
 Superconductors for accelerator magnets (4/5)
Filaments twisted
Coupling currents between filaments in a wire
𝑑𝐵
2 𝜏
M = 𝑑𝑡
𝜇0

2
𝜇0 𝐿𝑡
τ=
2 𝜌𝑚 2𝜋

Lt = Twist pitch
m = transverse resistivity of the matrix

An un-twisted conductor is useless for magnets accelerator application

 Superconductors for accelerator magnets (5/5)
Big European Bubble Chamber (BEBC) at CERN - 1971

Nb-Ti Filaments not twisted

Large coupling currents

3.5 T solenoid
5.7 kA
800 MJ
bore = 4.72 m
 Bruker’s wires Nb-Ti Luvata’s wires

Industrially available in a large variety of architectures

 Fully optimized, with processing and properties well understood
 Strong and dense engineered pinning thanks to -Ti precipates
 The only material to date used in accelerator magnets and the
material used in commercial MRI magnets
 Produced in large quantity ( 600 tons/year, mainly for MRI) and
long unit lengths at low cost. The LHC required about 1300 tons of
high-quality Nb-Ti (300 tons/year peak production)

The choice for magnetic fields ≤ 10 T

 Nb-Ti
Nb-47wt%Ti Nb-Ti: -precipitates Phase diagram

Ti rich phase precipitated as a result of heat treatments

Optimum Bc2: Nb 46.5-50 wt% Ti applied during manufacturing of the wire
 J(A/mm2)
LHC Nb-Ti wire
Jc(4.2 K, 6 T)2300 A/mm2
T=1.9 K Jc(1.9 K, 9 T)2300 A/mm2
T=4.2 K

B=9 T

240 000 km of Nb-Ti wire

B(T)
5300 Nb-Ti/Cu composite
490 tons of Nb-Ti (47.0 ± 1.0 wt % Ti)
T(K)
Nb-Ti is the choice for magnets
Unless we can’t….
 Nb3Sn
 Bc2(2 K)  30 T (Bc2(2 K) of Nb-Ti  14 T)

 Brittle intermetallic

 Ternary (NbTi)3Sn or (NbTa)3Sn compounds

 Bc2 enhanced by increasing n without sacrificing Tc and workability
(1-2 % at Ti and 2-4 at % Ta)

 Multi-filamentary wires,   1 mm, filaments/sub-elements size  60 m

The choice for magnetic fields up to 15 T – 16 T

 Nb3Sn

Enhancement of 0

Enhancement of Bc2

Ternary
Ta and Ti additions Bc2 Tc  0

R. Flukiger et al., SuST 2008

 Nb3Sn

R. Flukiger et al., SuST 2008

Bc2 max at 24.5 at % Sn
 Nb3Sn – Manufacturing Processes
 Bronze Route
Diffusion barrier
Small filaments ( < 5 m)
Nb
Jc limited ( 1-1.2 kA/mm2 @ 12 T,
Bronze 4.2 K) by the solubility of Sn in Cu
Cu (15.5 wt %)
 Internal Tin
Diffusion barrier
Sn RRP 
Nb
Cu
Cu
High Jc Nb3Sn wires for accelerator
 Powder In Tube magnets
Sn rich powder

Nb PIT
Cu
 Nb3Sn – Pinning mechanism
NbTi: -precipitates Nb3Sn: grain boundaries

C. Tarantini et al, Supercond . Sci. Technol. 27 (2014)

Dominant pinning mechanism:

grain boundaries (vortex pinning)
Finest grain size needed to
maximise vortex pinning
 Nb3Sn – High Performance
• Use all Nb and Sn in the to make Nb3Sn
• Maximize the amount of A15
• Make stoichiometric A15
• Avoid composition gradients
• Make grains as small as possible
• Assure strong pinning
 Nb3Sn – Grain Size Refinement
 Grain size at optimized heat treatments (  150 nm) vs vortex
spacing at operational fields ( 12 nm at 16 T) . Needed matching
of spacing of pinning sites to vortex spacing
 Grain refinement possible by lowering the reaction temperature.
But this is in conflict with the need of reaching stoichiometric Sn
composition in the A15 phase  delicate interplay between A15
gain boundary density and compositional homogeneity
 High-Luminosity LHC Project
Nb3Sn for the first time in an operating accelerator
 30 tons of Nb3Sn
High Luminosity LHC Nb3Sn wire
RRR > 150 RRP
wire = 0.7 mm, 0.85 mm
fil =  50 m

PIT
 Superconducting Cables
 Needed for high-current magnets
Many wires in parallel Accelerator magnets
 High current capability (10 kA – 20 kA) connected in series
 Low inductance
For accelerator magnets, required:
 High compaction factor  high Je
 Twisting of wires
 Transposition of wires
 Precise dimensions
 Uniform current density
 Controlled inter-strand resistance
 High RRR of the strands also after cabling
 Types of fully transposed cables:
 Rope, braid, Rutherford cables
 Only Rutherford cables used – to date - in accelerator technology
Engineering current density in dipoles

Je  400 A/mm2 t

Perfect dipole field:

LHC Dipoles overlapping
of two cylinders with
opposite currents

Je = 375 A/mm2
 Superconducting cables
Rutherford
CIC

Indirectly cooled
Accelerator magnets
Tevatron, HERA
RHIC and LHC

ITER magnets

Rutherford

Nuclotron Type (b)

Pulsed SIS 100 magnets

Detector magnets
Rope, Braid and Rutherford cables
 Rutherford cables
 Multi-strand cable (20 to 40 strands)
 Wires are twisted and compressed into a two-layer cable
- Rectangular shape
- Trapezoidal shape (for arc-shaped coil) with a
trapezoidal/keystone angle < 1.5 deg

 Tight packing of the strands to:

Width - Assure high Je
- Prevent wire motion during magnets excitation
Thin edge Thick edge
 Low degradation of wires’ critical current after
mechanical deformation during cabling
Rutherford cabling machine at CERN

Turk’s head
Cable
 Coupling currents in Rutherford cables
Changing fields induce coupling currents in cables
B
Transverse field, cross-over resistance

Transverse field, adjacent resistance

Ra
Parallel field, adjacent resistance
Rc

B
crossover resistance Rc
adjacent resistance Ra
B

M. Wilson, JUAS School, 2015

 Twisting and transposition of wires in a cable
 Twisting of wires in a cable
To cope with external magnetic field

 Transposition of wires in cable

To cope with the cable self-field
Each wire changes position with every other wire in the cable

Two layer of SC wires

around a central copper core
Example of non-transposed cable
 LHC Nb-Ti Rutherford Cables

Nb-Ti LHC Main Dipole Rutherford cable – 36 strands

Cable compaction ~ 91 %
Wire Ic degradation ≤ 3 %

Large Hadron Collider: 7600 km (1200 tons)

Nb-Ti Rutherford cables
 Nb3Sn Cables
HL-LHC Cable – Forty strands

Edges deformation

Excessive shear of sub-elements

Reaction after cabling – and winding (Wind & React technology)

Sn leakage out of the Nb barrier of the filaments must be avoided !
 HTS Superconductors
The choice for magnetic fields > 15 T/16 T at LHe temperature
or
The choice for higher operating temperatures and lower fields
HTS in the LHC accelerator: HTS Current Leads
LHC: about 3 MA
More than 1000 HTS leads

RT

50 K
50 K
BSCCO 2223
Au-Au matrix
Low k(T)
LHC: 3 MA of current 4.5 K LHe
 HTS Superconductors
BSCCO 2223
Multi-filamentary tape  40 % SC
Sumitomo DI-BSCCO tape  4.3 mm  0.23 mm

REBCO
Coated Conductor tape  1% SC
 4 mm  0.16 mm

SuperPower REBCO tape

BSCCO 2212
Multi-filamentary wire
 30 % SC
 = 0.8-1.4 mm
OST BSCCO 2212 wire
REBCO - Pinning

Very interesting for high field applications !

 REBCO Cables

REBCO prototype cables studied for fusion technology

The Je of these cables is insufficient for accelerator technology
HTS Roebel cable

Cable produced at KIT

 Model magnets
Aperture = 40 mm
~1000 m REBCO tape
~70 m of cable
5 T in a background
field of 15 T
Conductor for future circular colliders
Conductor performance for the FCC Collider

Target Nb3Sn performance for FCC

 The FCC Collider

Jc  GBD/d d = grain diameter

GBD = Grain boundaries Density
Measurement techniques
 Critical surface of a superconductor

In some materials (e.g. Nb3Sn) strain plays an important role too !

 Measurements techniques
• Intrinsic properties: Tc, , , Bc2
• Extrinsic properties: Jc
• Quench propagation, minimum quench energy, AC losses, mechanical
behaviour (bending, compression, tension, at room temperature and at
cryogenic temperature), anisotropy of properties, thermal cycling effect,
resistance internal to the composite conductor, resistance of splices,
inter-strand resistance in cables,…..
• Measurement of composite wires/tapes and cables
• Needed dedicated test station able to provide current, magnetic field,
cryogenic environment (LHe, LN2, He gas, dry samples cryo-cooled),
data acquisition, quench protection,….
• Needed dedicated sample holders – incorporating all what required for
feeding with current the samples at cryogenic temperature
 Measurements techniques
• Anisotropy of HTS materials. Samples shall be measured in different
configurations – e.g. critical current with different orientations of the
external magnetic field
• Measurement at higher temperatures
Needed intermediate temperatures from LHe (4.2 K) to LN2 (77 K)
- Sample cooled by forced flow of GHe or GN2
- Use of heat exchangers cooled by gas – and sample in vacuum
- Use of cryo-coolers – and sample in vacuum
Needed dedicated instrumentations: cryogenic temperature sensors , Lhe
level gauges,…
 Measurements techniques

From Ekin, Experimental techniques for low temperature measurements

Orientation of samples is important for anisotropic materials

 Determination of coherence length
Coherence length derived from Bc2 Magnetic penetration depth
derived from Bc1

Bc2 measured from:

Electric method
Magnetization
 Measurement of critical field
Electrical method
Magnetization
Sample in a DC field and at fixed
temperature. A small current is applied to
the sample and then the field is increased

Extrapolation needed for high Bc2

 Measurement of Critical Temperature (1/4)
Resistance method: four-point resistance technique
Current is passed through the sample  voltage is measured and resistance
is derived. Measurement of temperature, current and voltage

Needed:

 Small current to avoid heating

 Measurement of low voltages
 Cryogenic temperature sensor
 Slow cool-down or warm-up of the sample
Sample
from/to room temperature to below Tc
 Measurement of Critical Temperature (2/4)
Susceptibility method
AC Susceptibility
 Magnetic susceptibility: dimensionless constant that measures the
degree of magnetization of a material in response to an applied
magnetic field

 Fully superconducting state:  = -1

 Onset of non-zero   superconducting transition temperature
 Measurement of Critical Temperature (3/4)
Meissner effect (for bulk superconductors)
Critical temperature: temperature at which the Meissner effect disappears as
the superconductor is warming from cryogenic temperatures
Simple demonstration of superconductivity for HTS superconductors

Needed:
Small permanent magnet floating above HTS typically in liquid nitrogen
Cryogenic temperature measurement of the bulk sample
Controlled warm-up of the superconducting sample
 Measurement of Critical Temperature (4/4)
Transition temperature width Tc
For metal or alloy superconductors: Tc ≤ 10-3 K
For HTS superconductors: Tc = 0.5 - 1 K
100 % Rs(T)
R
90 % Rs(T)
Tc=T0.5
Tc=T0.9-T0.1
50 % Rs(T)

10 % Rs(T)

T0.9T0.5T0.1 T
 Measurement of Critical current (1/6)
Definition of electric field criterion: 0.1 µV/cm (LTS) and 1 µV/cm (HTS) 
Critical voltage level (Uc). Critical current Ic: current at which the V-I curve
intersects the criterion line

Uc
 Measurement of Critical current (2/6)
Critical current: extrinsic property of superconductors. It varies from
sample to sample – it depends on grain boundary and defects structure.
Transport method
A current (I) is passed through the sample, and the electrical-potential
difference (V) is measured along a given length. At the critical current Ic, the
voltage rises. The V-I characteristic is highly non-linear.
Power-law:
At a given temperature and field:
U=Uc(I/Ic)n
The n-value depends on
E=Ec(I/Ic) n
field and temperature
n = n-value
n = 1 Conventional conductor
n =  Ideal superconductor
Critical current – Electric field vs resistivity criterion
(3/6)
LTS HTS
Ec = 0.1 µV/cm Ec = 1 µV/cm
c = 10-14 ·m c = 10-13 ·m
Measurement of Critical current (4/6)
 Measurement of Critical current (5/6)

Vc

Figure from: Ekin, Experimental techniques for low-temperature

measurements

Importance of: low resistance joints, appropriate choice of materials for sample
holders, long samples, optimized routing of instrumentation (Vtaps), …..
Fresca test station at CERN – Superconductors’ Lab
4.2 K or 1.9 K
Up to 32 kA transferred to the sample holder
External field of up to 10 T (Nb-Ti dipole)
1. Outer cryostat 7. Sample holder
2. Inner cryostat 8. Current leads for magnet 18 kA
3.  Plate outer cryostat 9. Current leads for sample 32 kA
4.  Plate inner cryostat 10. Rotating system for sample holder

Test station for measuring superconducting cables

Sample holder
Fresca test station at CERN – Superconductors’ Lab
Measurement of Critical current – Indirect method
(6/6)
Jc  M/ Vibrating Sample Magnetometer

Mallison coil set

Movement of a sample in a
uniform background magnetic field
Is translated into a voltage
 Measurement of irreversibility field
Irreversibility field (Birr): applied
magnetic field at which pinning is lost. It
is indicated by the loss of irreversibility
in the magnetization curve.
Determined usually from magnetization
measurements.
The difference between Bc2 and Birr is
typically less than 1 T for LTS (with the
exception of MgB2), but it can be several
Tesla for HTS.
Birr define the ability of a
superconductor of carrying current.
 Measurement of MPZ and MQE
Stability and quench superconductors

MQE measurement: injecting heat pulses in a wire or in a single strand of a cable

Minimum propagation zone (MPZ). Any zone larger than MPZ will grow
Minimum quench energy (MQE). Energy required to create MPZ
Quench propagation. Speed at which the resistive zone propagates along the sample
Large MPZ and MQE are desired
Measurement of inter-strand resistance in cables

Data by D. Richter (CERN) – Nb-Ti Rutherford cable

 Measurement of inter-filament resistance in wires
Poor contact to filaments Good contact to filaments
J
J

Measurement by point contact

Images from M. Wilson, JUAS 2015

Thermal properties of superconductors

Measurements at University of Geneva

 Conclusions
 We reviewed the properties of superconductors for high field applications: Nb-
Ti, Nb3Sn and REBCO

 We discussed some (of the many) measurement techniques specific to

superconducting materials. The measurements presented are performed in the
Superconductors’ Laboratory at CERN (Building 163)

 Superconductors are the heart of the magnets (and of any superconducting

devices)

A magnet (a superconducting device) will never

perform better than its conductor