Performance Boost in Industrial Multifilamentary Nb3Sn Wires due to Radiation Induced Pinning Centers

Abstract

We report non-Cu critical current densities of 4.09 * 10^9 A/m^2 at 12 T and 2.27 * 10^9 A/m^2 at 15 T obtained from transport measurements on a Ti-alloyed RRP Nb3Sn wire after irradiation to a fast neutron fluence of 8.9 * 10^21 m^-2. These values are to our knowledge unprecedented in multifilamentary Nb3Sn, and they correspond to a Jc enhancement of approximately 60% relative to the unirradiated state. Our magnetometry data obtained on short wire samples irradiated to fast neutron fluences of up to 2.5 * 10^22 m^-2 indicate the possibility of an even better performance, whereas earlier irradiation studies on bronze-processed Nb3Sn wires with a Sn content further from stoichiometry attested a decline of the critical current density at such high fluences. We show that radiation induced point-pinning centers rather than an increase of the upper critical field are responsible for this Jc enhancement, and argue that these results call for further research on pinning landscape engineering.

arXiv comment6 pages, 4 figures; to be published in Scientific Reports

References in corpus (4)

• Effects of Neutron Irradiation on Pinning Force Scaling in State-of-the-Art Nb3Sn Wires
• Refinement of Nb3Sn grain size by the generation of ZrO2 precipitates in Nb3Sn wires
• Internally Oxidized Nb3Sn Strands with Fine Grain Size and High Critical Current Density
• Examination of the tradeoff between intrinsic and extrinsic properties in the optimization of a modern internal tin Nb3Sn conductor

Cited by in corpus (4)

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• Ternary Nb3Sn superconductors with artificial pinning centers and high upper critical fields
• Evidence from EXAFS for Different Ta/Ti Site Occupancy in High Critical Current Density Nb${}_3$Sn Superconductor Wires
• $\text{Ab Initio}$ Theory of the Impact from Grain Boundaries and Substitutional Defects on Superconducting Nb${}_3$Sn