45695550
Evidence for length-dependent wire expansion, filament dedensification and consequent degradation of critical current density in Ag-alloy sheathed Bi-2212 wires
It is well known that longer Bi-2212 conductors have significantly lower critical current density (Jc) than shorter ones, and recently it has become clear that a major cause of this reduction is internal gas pressure generated during heat treatment, which expands the wire diameter and dedensifies the Bi-2212 filaments. Here we report on the length-dependent expansion of 5–240 cm lengths of state-of-the-art, commercial Ag alloy sheathed Bi-2212 wire after full and some partial heat treatments. Detailed image analysis along the wire length shows that the wire diameter increases with distance from the ends, longer samples often showing evident damage and leaks provoked by the internal gas pressure. Comparison of heat treatments carried out just below the melting point and with the usual melt process makes it clear that melting is crucial to developing high internal pressure. The decay of Jc away from the ends is directly correlated to the local wire diameter increase, which decreases the local Bi-2212 filament mass density and lowers Jc, often by well over 50%. It is clear that control of the internal gas pressure is crucial to attaining the full Jc of these very promising round wires and that the very variable properties of Bi-2212 wires are due to the fact that this internal gas pressure has so far not been well controlled.
8278234
High Field Magnets With HTS Conductors
Development of high-field magnets using high temperature superconductors (HTS) is a core activity at the NHMFL. Magnet technology based on both YBCO-coated tape conductors and Bi-2212 round wires is being pursued. Two specific projects are underway. The first is a user magnet with a 17 T YBCO coil set which, inside an LTS outsert, will generate a combined field of 32 T. The second is a 7 T Bi2212 demonstration coil set to be operated in a large bore resistive magnet to generate a combined magnetic field of 25 T. Owing to the substantial technological differences of the two conductor types, each project faces different conductor and magnet technology challenges. Two small coils have been tested in a 38-mm cold bore cryostat inserted in a 31 T resistive magnet: a Bi2212 round-wire layer-wound insert coil that generated 1.1 T for a total of 32.1 T and a YBCO double-pancake insert that generated 2.8 T for a total central field of 33.8 T. Four larger layer-wound coils have been manufactured and tested in a 20 T, 186-mm cold bore resistive magnet: a sizeable Bi-2212 coil and three thin large-diameter YBCO coils. The test results are discussed. The current densities and stress levels that these coils tolerate underpin our conviction that >30 T all-superconducting magnets are viable.
98476250
The Bi-2212 conductor and magnet program at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
The NHMFL has had a long running program to develop Bi2Sr2CaCu2Ox (Bi2212) for high field magnets. The recent development of round wire Bi2212 (RW2212) has strengthened the effort to develop solenoid magnets with fields substantially greater than can be achieved with Nb3Sn. The present paper briefly summarizes some of the results obtained at the NHMFL in the past 12 months. It summarizes the talk given by David Larbalestier at WAMSDO on May 24, 2008. Much of the work is ongoing and will be reported in the normal peer reviewed literature in late 2008.
139229583
Tests of HTS insert coils above 30 T
Recently HTS insert coils have been operated in background magnetic fields over 30 T, reaching record values for the central magnetic field. One YBCO double pancake coil generated 2.8 T in a 31 T background for a total of 33.8 T. A Bi-2212 layer wound coil generated 1.1 T in a 31 T background for a total of 32.1 T. Here we report on the test set-up and the obtained results. Introduction •Goal: demonstrate the suitability of HTS conductors > 30 T •Two insert coils are built and tested in a background magnetic field of 31 T. 1) YBCO insert coil with commercial conductor from SuperPower Inc. 2) Bi-2212 coil using commercial φ 1 mm wire from Oxford Instruments, Superconducting Technology (OST). •Coils are wound and tested at the NHMFL in a 31 T resistive magnet with a 39 mm diameter cryostat. •HTS coils were protected with a quench detection system, circuit breakers and a 0.5 Ohm dump resistor units YBCO coil Bi-2212 coil Conductor 4 by 0.1 mm tape φ 1 mm wire Insulation varnish ceramic braid Impregnation none Epoxy VPI Conductor length m 36 66 Self-inductance mH 1.9 2.6 Field constant mT/A 8.7 9.1 Typical Ic A 120 A at 77 K, SF 330 A at 4.2 K, 5T
205409621
Isotropic round-wire multifilament cuprate superconductor for generation of magnetic fields above 30 T.
Magnets are the principal market for superconductors, but making attractive conductors out of the high-temperature cuprate superconductors (HTSs) has proved difficult because of the presence of high-angle grain boundaries that are generally believed to lower the critical current density, J(c). To minimize such grain boundary obstacles, HTS conductors such as REBa2Cu3O(7-x) and (Bi, Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O(10-x) are both made as tapes with a high aspect ratio and a large superconducting anisotropy. Here we report that Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8-x) (Bi-2212) can be made in the much more desirable isotropic, round-wire, multifilament form that can be wound or cabled into arbitrary geometries and will be especially valuable for high-field NMR magnets beyond the present 1 GHz proton resonance limit of Nb3Sn technology. An appealing attribute of this Bi-2212 conductor is that, being without macroscopic texture, it contains many high-angle grain boundaries but nevertheless attains a very high J(c) of 2,500 A mm(-2) at 20 T and 4.2 K. The large potential of the conductor has been demonstrated by building a small coil that generated almost 2.6 T in a 31 T background field. This demonstration that grain boundary limits to high Jc can be practically overcome underlines the value of a renewed focus on grain boundary properties in non-ideal geometries.
118289508
A transformative superconducting magnet technology for fields well above 30 T using isotropic round wire multifilament Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8-x conductor
We report here that magnetic fields of almost 34 T, far above the upper 24 T limit of Nb3Sn, can be generated using a multifilament round wire conductor made of the high temperature cuprate superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8-x (Bi-2212). A remarkable attribute of this Bi-2212 conductor is that it does not exhibit macroscopic texture and contains many high angle grain boundaries but nevertheless attains very high superconducting critical current densities Jc of 2500 A/mm2 at 20 T and 4.2 K. This Bi-2212 conductor does not possess the extreme texture that high Jc coated conductors of REBa2Cu3O7-x (REBCO) require, avoiding also its high aspect ratio, large superconducting anisotropy and the inherent sensitivity to defects of a single filament conductor. Bi-2212 wires can be wound or cabled into almost any type of superconducting magnet and will be especially valuable for very high field NMR magnets beyond the present 1 GHz proton resonance limit of Nb3Sn technology. This demonstration that grain boundary limits to high Jc can be practically overcome suggests the huge value of a renewed focus on grain boundary properties in non-ideal geometries, especially with the goal of translating the lessons of this Bi-2212 conductor into fabrication of multifilament round wire REBCO or Fe-based superconductors.
16282327
Modeling the Sun's open magnetic flux and the heliospheric current sheet
By coupling a solar surface flux transport model with an extrapolation of the heliospheric field, we simulate the evolution of the Sun's open magnetic flux and the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) based on observational data of sunspot groups since 1976. The results are consistent with measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field near Earth and with the tilt angle of the HCS as derived from extrapolation of the observed solar surface field. This opens the possibility for an improved reconstruction of the Sun's open flux and the HCS into the past on the basis of empirical sunspot data.
119209752
MHD simulation of the inner‐heliospheric magnetic field
[1] Maps of the radial magnetic field at a heliocentric distance of 10 solar radii are used as boundary conditions in the MHD code CRONOS to simulate a three-dimensional inner-heliospheric solar wind emanating from the rotating Sun out to 1 AU. The input data for the magnetic field are the result of solar surface flux transport modeling using observational data of sunspot groups coupled with a current-sheet source surface model. Among several advancements, this allows for higher angular resolution than that of comparable observational data from synoptic magnetograms. The required initial conditions for the other MHD quantities are obtained following an empirical approach using an inverse relation between flux tube expansion and radial solar wind speed. The computations are performed for representative solar minimum and maximum conditions, and the corresponding state of the solar wind up to the Earth's orbit is obtained. After a successful comparison of the latter with observational data, they can be used to drive outer-heliospheric models.
4383382
High critical current density and enhanced irreversibility field in superconducting MgB2 thin films
The discovery of superconductivity at 39 K in magnesium diboride offers the possibility of a new class of low-cost, high-performance superconducting materials for magnets and electronic applications. This compound has twice the transition temperature of Nb3Sn and four times that of Nb-Ti alloy, and the vital prerequisite of strongly linked current flow has already been demonstrated. One possible drawback, however, is that the magnetic field at which superconductivity is destroyed is modest. Furthermore, the field which limits the range of practical applications—the irreversibility field H*(T)—is approximately 7 T at liquid helium temperature (4.2 K), significantly lower than about 10 T for Nb-Ti (ref. 6) and ∼20 T for Nb3Sn (ref. 7). Here we show that MgB2 thin films that are alloyed with oxygen can exhibit a much steeper temperature dependence of H*(T) than is observed in bulk materials, yielding an H* value at 4.2 K greater than 14 T. In addition, very high critical current densities at 4.2 K are achieved: 1 MA cm-2 at 1 T and 105 A cm-2 at 10 T. These results demonstrate that MgB2 has potential for high-field superconducting applications.
119415188
Signals for CP violation in split supersymmetry
Abstract Split supersymmetry is characterized by relatively light chargino and neutralino sector and very heavy sfermion sector. We study the consequence of CP violation in this scenario by evaluating two-loop contributions to electric dipole moments of fermions from Higgs-photon as well as W – W diagrams. These contributions add coherently and produce electron and neutron electric dipole moments close to present bounds. We then explore Higgs production at a photon–photon collider, and consider the feasibility of measuring CP violating h γ γ coupling induced by chargino loops. Methods of enhancing the sensitivity are discussed. For lower chargino masses and lower Higgs boson masses, the effect of the CP violation can be observed with 90% confidence level significance.
119694044
Supersymmetric unparticle effects on Higgs boson mass and dark matter
We propose a model that introduces a supersymmetric unparticle operator in the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model. We analyze the lowest dimension operator involving an unparticle. This operator behaves as a Standard Model gauge singlet and it introduces a new parameter into the Higgs potential which can provide an alternative way to relax the upper limit on the lightest Higgs boson mass. This operator also introduces several unparticle interactions which can induce a neutral Higgsino to decay into a spinor unparticle. It also induces violation of scale invariance around the electroweak scale. It is necessary for the scale of this violation to be larger than the lightest supersymmetric particle mass to maintain the latter as the usual weakly interacting massive particle dark matter candidate. An alternative is to have unparticle state as dark matter candidate. We also comment on some collider implications.