Round robin measurements of the flux trapping properties of melt processed Sm–Ba–Cu–O bulk superconductors

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Scanning Hall probe round robin measurements of the trapped field of two CFRF-clad, epoxy resin-reinforced large grain samples of Sm–Ba–Cu–O fabricated at ISTEC-SRL by top seeded melt growth (TSMG) have been performed by five European laboratories over a two year period under the auspice of the Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) and Technical Committee 90 (TC90) of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). This study completes the interim report of the round robin tests presented at the fourth PASREG Workshop, Jena, July 2003. The peak fields derived from flux profiles measured by the different groups are found to correlate to within 6% over the measurement period. The flux trapping ability of the samples, measured by the peak field in the upper surface, deteriorated over the period of measurement by around 2% and 1%, respectively. Overall the measurements suggest that the trapped flux profile is most sensitive to changes in magnetizing field, experimental geometry and the sample–Hall probe separation. As a result, variations in these parameters should be minimized during flux mapping. In general a magnetizing field of 1.75 times the maximum trapped field for field cooled (FC) samples is required to ensure complete magnetization of a homogeneous cylindrical sample with an aspect ratio of ≈2.5, corresponding to the geometry of the samples measured here. Finally, 20 min relaxation time following magnetization was observed to be sufficient to yield consistent measurement of the peak trapped field within the error of the measurement, which was typically less than 4%. Other than the recommended magnetizing field of 3 T, which should be determined by aspect ratio, temperature and maximum trapped field rather than pre-defined, the experimental conditions were confirmed to lie within the guidelines described in a draft International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee 90 (TC90) standardization document on flux mapping. On the basis of the present results the proposed 5% spread in measured trapped field and a 20 min relaxation period appear to be reasonable criteria for trapped field measurements performed at different laboratories.