ULTRAFINE FILAMENT NBTI SUPERCONDUCTORS

MULTIFILAMENTARY SUPERCONDUCTORS WITH VERY FINE NBTI FILAMENT DIAMETERS RANGING FROM 5 TO 9 MICRONS HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED SUCCESSFULLY IN PRODUCTION QUANTITIES FOR ACCELERATOR MAGNET APPLICATIONS. THESE CONDUCTORS HAVE HIGH CURRENT DENSITY (3,000 A/MM(2) AT 5 T AND 1,250 A/MM(2)AT 8 T), LOW MAGNETIZATION, GOOD FILAMENT QUALITY ('N' (5T) = 60 AND 'N' (8T) = 35), AND LOW PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION CAUSED BY CABLING. FUTURE ACCELERATOR MAGNET APPLICATIONS REQUIRE EVEN FINER DIAMETER FILAMENTS (LESS THAN 3 MICRONS) WHILE RETAINING ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS SIMILAR TO THOSE DEMONSTRATED IN TODAY'S STATE-OF-THE-ART CONDUCTORS. THIS STUDY WILL FOCUS ON TWO DIFFERENT CONDUCTOR DESIGNS AND MANUFACTURING METHODS NECESSARY TO PRODUCE HIGH CURRENT DENSITY, LOW MAGNETIZATION, DUCTILE NBTI SUPERCONDUCTORS WITH FILAMENT DIAMETERS LESS THAN 3 MICRONS. MODEL COMPOSITES WILL BE DESIGNED AND PROCESSED TO FINAL SIZE. THE FINISHED PRODUCT WILL HAVE HIGH QUALITY FILAMENTS IN THE SIZE RANGE OF 5 TO 1MICRONS WITH SUFFICIENT INTERFILAMENT SPACING AND/OR AN APPROPRIATE MATRIX MATERIAL TO MINIMIZE OR ELIMINATE FILAMENT COUPLING. THE ACTUAL DESIGNS AND PROCESSES USED TO PRODUCE THESE CONDUCTORS WILL BE BASED UPON THE MOST UP-TO-DATE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRODUCTION OF FINE FILAMENT NBTI SUPERCONDUCTORS. ONE DESIGN WILL EVALUATE A NOVEL, YET COST-EFFECTIVE, MANUFACTURING APPROACH TO MAKE FINE FILAMENT CONDUCTORS.