Structure of superconducting layers in bronze-processed and internal-tin Nb3Sn-based wires of various designs

Abstract

The microstructure of Nb3Sn layers in multifilamentary composites manufactured by bronze technology and the internal-tin (IT) method differing in the strand design has been studied. The IT strands of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) type and high-Jc type are characterized by both the higher Sn concentration and the higher fraction of equiaxed grains than bronze-route composites. In all the samples under study, the fraction of equiaxed grains correlates with the average concentration of Sn in Nb3Sn layers. The Ti doping of the bronze matrix in the bronze-processed wires results in the reduction in average grain sizes of Nb3Sn grains and in a higher fraction of equiaxed grains with a higher Sn concentration, which leads to a higher non-Cu Jc (calculated as a ratio of critical current Ic to a cross-sectional area of a strand without stabilizing Cu), 997 A/mm2 at 12 T, 4.2 K, compared to a composite of the same design with artificially Ti-doped Nb filaments. The ITER type IT strand demonstrates a somewhat higher fraction of equiaxed Nb3Sn grains with much larger average grain sizes (120 nm). The grain coarsening in this IT strand results in a decrease in Jc compared to other ITER type strands studied. The highest values of Jc are ensured in the high-Jc type of IT wires with 7 extended tin sources by the highest fraction (92%) of equiaxed Nb3Sn grains despite their coarser sizes (92 nm).