Yutaka Yamada

(Nb, Ti)3Sn Superconducting Magnet Operated at 11 K in Vacuum Using High-Tc (Bi, Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 Current Leads

A conduction-cooled superconducting magnet using high-Tc oxide current leads was successfully demonstrated. We succeeded in constructing the (Nb, Ti)3Sn multifilamentary superconducting magnet system without liquid helium, which is operated at 11 K in vacuum using a cryocooler and generates a magnetic field of 4.6 T in a 50 mm bore (38 mm room temperature bore). Use of (Bi, Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 current leads effectively contributed to realization of the compact cryostat with large current leads of 500 A.

11 T liquid helium-free superconducting magnet

Abstract An 11 T liquid helium-free superconducting magnet designed at 6 K in vacuum using high temperature superconducting current leads was developed. The NbTi Nb 3 Sn coil was conductively cooled down from room temperature to 4.1 K in 40 h by two 4 K GM-cryocoolers. In a performance test, the coil temperature rose to 6.8 K for the inner Nb3Sn coil and 5.9 K for the outer NbTi coil, while sweeping the field at 5 A min−1. A central field of 10.7 T in a 52 mm room temperature bore was generated at an operating current of 149 A. Holding the field at 10.5 T was achieved continuously for 24 h at a constant coil temperature of 4.8 K.

Cryocooler Cooled Superconducting Magnets and Their Applications

Various types of cryocooler cooled superconducting magnets have been constructed and already used for some applications. An 11 T-52 mm room temperature bore magnet is used for a high-field heat treatment equipment, a 6 T-220 mm room temperature bore magnet is used for a new experiment on the electrochemical reaction in high fields, and a 5 T-50 mm bore with 10 mm gap split type magnet has been combined with an X-ray diffraction apparatus.

High-Tc Oxide Current Leads and Superconducting Magnet Using No Liquid Helium

We applied Bi-based oxide superconducting bulk for use as current leads in a cryocoolercooled superconducting magnet that does not use liquid helium. The bulk has a composition of (Bi + Pb):Sr:Ca:Cu = 2:2:2:3 and is utilized in the form of thin-walled sintered cylindrical tubes. The critical current and the critical current density of the bulk under a self-magnetic field at 77 K are 1100 A and 1200 A/cm2, respectively.

Characteristics of high temperature operation in a conduction cooled (Nb,Ti)3Sn superconducting magnet

Intense investigations aiming at application workable at liquid nitrogen temperature have been performed, since the discovery of high temperature superconductors with the critical temperature Tc in excess of 77.3 K. Realization of practical superconductors at high temperature like 77.3 K is expected to significantly promote industrial development. The most important superconducting properties for application are the large critical current Ic and the high critical current density Jc. Especially, the large transport current in fields is a key parameter for power application. However, there exist many crucial issues in the Jc properties of high-Tc oxide superconductors. The flux creep behavior1 is one of the difficult problems to be solved out for application at 77.3 K. Although the flux creep has been already understood through the model proposed by Anderson and Kim2 in conventional low-Tc superconductors, it did not practically influence the usage at liquid helium temperature of 4.2 K for low-Tc superconductors, because of the negligibly small effect at 4.2 K. On the contrary, the extremely large flux creep phenomenon is observed at high temperature like 77.3 K in high-Tc superconductors. Therefore, the satisfactory solution of the flux creep is inevitable to realize a superconducting magnet employing high-Tc superconducting wires, which will be operated at 77.3 K, for instance.

Cryogen-Free Split-Pair Superconducting Magnet with a φ 50 mm × 10 mm Room Temperature Gap

A cryocooler-cooled split-pair superconducting magnet which will be a new functional system combined with important studies such as X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, and magneto-optics or opto-magnetism has been constructed. The split-pair NbTi superconducting magnet has a vertical clear bore of φ 68 mm and a horizontal gap of 58 mm, and is operated in a vacuum below 6 K using a GM-cryocooler with magnetic regenerator material ErNi0.9Co0.1. This magnet system is designed to generate a magnetic field of 5.0 T at the center of an experimental bore, and the maximum field is estimated to be 6.7 T at the coil winding.

Cryocooler-cooled high field superconducting magnet

A high field NbTi/Nb3Sn superconducting magnet with no use of liquid helium was developed by adopting high-Tc Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 current leads and 4 K GM-cryocoolers. The initial cooldown from room temperature to 4.1 K for the coil was attained within 40 hours by conductively cooling in vacuum. The cryocooler-cooled superconducting magnet successfully achieved to generate a central field of 10.7 T in a 52 mm room temperature experimental bore, and to hold a field at 10.5 T for 24 hours.