Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Effect of proximity length on flux pinning in APC composites: An overview of APC

Journal Article · · Advances in Cryogenic Engineering
OSTI ID:482126
 [1]
  1. NIST, Boulder, CO (United States)

The lack of adequate high-field pinning in APC composites is an intrinsic property of a dominant magnetic pinning mechanism and the long proximity length of Nb pins. Recent work on APC composites has uncovered trends in the flux-pinning and microstructural data, which hold despite the variety of their designs. By comparing these trends to those of conventional Nb-Ti composites, evidence for magnetic pinning being the dominant flux-pinning mechanism is found. This model departs from the widely accepted view that core-pinning is the dominant pinning mechanism. The parameter that controls the optimization of flux-pinning in the microstructure is the proximity length {xi}{sub N} instead of the diameter of the fluxon core. The optimum bulk pinning force occurs for the best balance of a strong elementary pinning force f{sub p} and a high number density of pins. However, since f{sub p} is maximum when the pin thickness t {approx} {xi}{sub N}, the number density of pins can be made to be on the order of the fluxon number density by using artificial pins which have very short proximity lengths. Such pins are most desirable to achieve high J{sub c} at high fields.

OSTI ID:
482126
Report Number(s):
CONF-950722--
Journal Information:
Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, Journal Name: Advances in Cryogenic Engineering Vol. 42B; ISSN ACYEAC; ISSN 0065-2482
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Flux-pinning mechanism of proximity-coupled planar defects in conventional superconductors: Evidence that magnetic pinning is the dominant pinning mechanism in niobium-titanium alloy
Journal Article · Thu Feb 29 23:00:00 EST 1996 · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter · OSTI ID:279494

Quantitative description of a very high critical current density Nb-Ti superconductor during its final optimization strain. II. Flux pinning mechanisms
Journal Article · Thu Dec 14 23:00:00 EST 1989 · Journal of Applied Physics; (USA) · OSTI ID:7268940

Proximity effect in flux pinning
Journal Article · Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1980 · J. Appl. Phys.; (United States) · OSTI ID:5122583