Flux pinning characteristics in cylindrical niobium samples used for superconducting radio frequency cavity fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dhavale, Asavari S; Dhakal, Pashupati; Ciovati, Gianluigi; Polyanskii, Anatolii A

2012-01-01

We present the results from DC magnetization and penetration depth measurements of cylindrical bulk large-grain (LG) and fine-grain (FG) niobium samples used for the fabrication of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. The surface treatment consisted of electropolishing and low-temperature baking as they are typically applied to SRF cavities. The magnetization data are analyzed using a modified critical state model. The critical current density J c and pinning force F p are calculated from the magnetization data and their temperature dependence and field dependence are presented. The LG samples have lower critical current density and pinning force density compared to FG samples, favorable to lower flux trapping efficiency. This effect may explain the lower values of residual resistance often observed in LG cavities than FG cavities. (paper)

Comparison of Deformation in High-Purity Single/Large Grain and Polycrystalline Niobium Superconducting Cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapati Rao Myneni; Peter Kneisel

2005-01-01

The current approach for the fabrication of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities is to roll and deep draw sheets of polycrystalline high-purity niobium. Recently, a new technique was developed at Jefferson Laboratory that enables the fabrication of single-crystal high-purity Nb SRF cavities. To better understand the differences between SRF cavities fabricated out of fine-grained polycrystalline sheet in the standard manner and single crystal cavities fabricated by the new technique, two half-cells were produced according to the two different procedures and compared using a variety of analytical techniques including optical microscopy, scanning laser confocal microscopy, profilometry, and X-ray diffraction. Crystallographic orientations, texture, and residual stresses were determined in the samples before and after forming and this poster presents the results of this ongoing study

High quality superconducting titanium nitride thin film growth using infrared pulsed laser deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Torgovkin, A.; Chaudhuri, S.; Ruhtinas, A.; Lahtinen, M.; Sajavaara, T.; Maasilta, I. J.

2018-05-01

Superconducting titanium nitride (TiN) thin films were deposited on magnesium oxide, sapphire and silicon nitride substrates at 700 °C, using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique, where infrared (1064 nm) pulses from a solid-state laser were used for the ablation from a titanium target in a nitrogen atmosphere. Structural studies performed with x-ray diffraction showed the best epitaxial crystallinity for films deposited on MgO. In the best films, superconducting transition temperatures, T C, as high as 4.8 K were observed, higher than in most previous superconducting TiN thin films deposited with reactive sputtering. A room temperature resistivity down to ∼17 μΩ cm and residual resistivity ratio up to 3 were observed in the best films, approaching reported single crystal film values, demonstrating that PLD is a good alternative to reactive sputtering for superconducting TiN film deposition. For less than ideal samples, the suppression of the film properties were correlated mostly with the unintended incorporation of oxygen (5–10 at%) in the film, and for high oxygen content films, vacuum annealing was also shown to increase the T C. On the other hand, superconducting properties were surprisingly insensitive to the nitrogen content, with high quality films achieved even in the highly nitrogen rich, Ti:N = 40/60 limit. Measures to limit oxygen exposure during deposition must be taken to guarantee the best superconducting film properties, a fact that needs to be taken into account with other deposition methods, as well.

Superconducting properties of clustered PbBi films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lobb, C.J.; Tinkham, M.; Klapwijk, T.M.; Smith, A.D.; Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA

1981-01-01

Superconducting films with high resistance/square have been widely studied as a model of the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. We show that the behavior of high R clean films near the thickness at which electrical conduction begins is dominated by a few paths across the film and thus should not be interpreted as a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Instead, this behavior is consistent with a simple percolation model for the connectivity fluctuations across the film. (orig.)

Quenching of superconductivity in disordered thin films by phase fluctuations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hebard, A.F.; Palaanen, M.A.

1992-01-01

The amplitude Ψ 0 and phase Φ of the superconducting order parameter in thin-film systems are affected differently by disorder and dimensionality. With increasing disorder superconducting long range order is quenched in sufficiently thin films by physical processes driven by phase fluctuations. This occurs at both the zero-field vortex-antivortex unbinding transition and at the zero-temperature magnetic-field-tuned superconducting-insulating transition. At both of these transitions Ψ 0 is finite and constant, vanishing only when temperature, disorder, and/or magnetic field are increased further. Experimental results on amorphous-composite InO x films are presented to illustrate these points and appropriate comparisons are made to other experimental systems. (orig.)

Superconducting properties of Pb82Bi18 films controlled by ferromagnetic nanowire arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye Zuxin; Lyuksyutov, Igor F; Wu Wenhao; Naugle, Donald G

2011-01-01

The superconducting properties of Pb 82 Bi 18 alloy films deposited on ferromagnetic nanowire arrays have been investigated. Ferromagnetic Co or Ni nanowires are first electroplated into the columnar pores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes. Superconducting Pb 82 Bi 18 films are then quench condensed onto the polished surface of the AAO membranes filled with magnetic nanowires. A strong dependence of the Pb 82 Bi 18 superconducting properties on the ratio of the superconducting film thickness to the magnetic nanowire diameter and material variety was observed.

Superconducting properties of Pb82Bi18 films controlled by ferromagnetic nanowire arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Zuxin; Lyuksyutov, Igor F.; Wu, Wenhao; Naugle, Donald G.

2011-02-01

The superconducting properties of Pb82Bi18 alloy films deposited on ferromagnetic nanowire arrays have been investigated. Ferromagnetic Co or Ni nanowires are first electroplated into the columnar pores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes. Superconducting Pb82Bi18 films are then quench condensed onto the polished surface of the AAO membranes filled with magnetic nanowires. A strong dependence of the Pb82Bi18 superconducting properties on the ratio of the superconducting film thickness to the magnetic nanowire diameter and material variety was observed.

Nanostructural features degrading the performance of superconducting radio frequency niobium cavities revealed by transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trenikhina, Y., E-mail: yuliatr@fnal.gov [Physics Department, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois 60616 (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510 (United States); Romanenko, A., E-mail: aroman@fnal.gov [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510 (United States); Kwon, J.; Zuo, J.-M. [Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States); Zasadzinski, J. F. [Physics Department, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois 60616 (United States)

2015-04-21

Nanoscale defect structure within the magnetic penetration depth of ∼100 nm is key to the performance limitations of niobium superconducting radio frequency cavities. Using a unique combination of advanced thermometry during cavity RF measurements, and TEM structural and compositional characterization of the samples extracted from cavity walls, we discover the existence of nanoscale hydrides in electropolished cavities limited by the high field Q slope, and show the decreased hydride formation in the electropolished cavity after 120 °C baking. Furthermore, we demonstrate that adding 800 °C hydrogen degassing followed by light buffered chemical polishing restores the hydride formation to the pre-120 °C bake level. We also show absence of niobium oxides along the grain boundaries and the modifications of the surface oxide upon 120 °C bake.

Surface preparation of niobium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kneisel, P.

1980-01-01

Any discussion of surface preparation for superconducting rf-surfaces is certainly connected with the question what is the best recipe for achieving high Q-values and high break-down fields. Since the break-down in a cavity is not understood so far and because several mechanisms play a role, it also is not possible to give one recipe which always works. Nevertheless in the past certain preparation techniques for niobium surfaces have been developed and certain rules for preparation can be applied. In the following the to-days state of the art will be described and it is attempted to give a short description of the surface in conjunction with the methods of surface treatments, which generally can be applied to niobium cavities. (orig./WTR)

Study of the role of the interface between niobium films and copper RF resonators

CERN Document Server

Benvenuti, Cristoforo; Campisi, I E; Darriulat, Pierre; Peck, M A; Russo, R

1997-01-01

Niobium-coated copper resonators are usually produced with an oxide interface between the film and the substrate. This oxide has two sources: the passivation layer inevitably formed on the surface of the cavity after chemical preparation before coating, and the niobium oxide which builds up on the surface of the cathode when it is exposed to air, and is transferred to the cavity surface during coa ting. The oxide layer may influence both the purity and the structural properties of the film, and in turn its RF behaviour. To study its effect, some cavities have been coated with a special two-cath ode sputtering system, allowing for a complete removal of both oxide layers by sputter-etching. For comparison, a few cavities have also been produced with the same coating system without sputter-etch ing, or with a controlled oxidation of the copper surface of the cavity after sputter-etching. Two cavities have also been produced without oxide interface using Kr and Ne as sputter gas instead of Ar .

Advances in high-field superconducting composites by addition of artificial pinning centres to niobium-titanium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooley, L.D.; Motowidlo, L.R.

1999-01-01

Artificial pinning-centre (APC) niobium-titanium composites attain critical current density J c values higher than 4000 A mm -2 at 5 T, 4.2 K, surpassing the barrier reached by the conventional Nb-Ti composite process. At 2 T APC composites achieve more than double the J c of conventional composites, making them particularly well suited for low-field applications. On the other hand, APC composites are inferior to conventional composites at 8 T, due to weak high-field pinning and reduced upper critical field. This review discusses fabrication techniques, microstructural development and superconducting and flux-pinning properties of APC composites. Key elements and underlying issues for achieving higher J c are identified and discussed in terms of the current state of the art. (author)

Y-Ba-Cu-O superconducting thin films by simultaneous or sequential evaporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mogro-Campero, A.; Hunt, B.D.; Turner, L.G.; Burrell, M.C.; Balz, W.E.

1988-01-01

Superconducting thin films of Y-Ba-Cu-O near the 1:2:3 stoichiometry were produced by simultaneous (coevaporation) and sequential (multilayer) evaporation in the same evaporator. The best film obtained on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) had a superconducting onset temperature of 104 K, a midpoint T/sub c/ of 92 K, and zero resistance at T≤74 K. Stoichiometry was deduced by inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy, and elemental depth profiles were obtained by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Film stoichiometry changes only near the film/substrate boundary for films on YSZ. Films on Si/SiO 2 were not superconducting; depth profiling shows severe changes of film composition with depth. A major theme of this work is process reproducibility, which was found to be poor for coevaporation but improved considerably for sequential evaporation

Spatial characterization of the edge barrier in wide superconducting films

Science.gov (United States)

Sivakov, A. G.; Turutanov, O. G.; Kolinko, A. E.; Pokhila, A. S.

2018-03-01

The current-induced destruction of superconductivity is discussed in wide superconducting thin films, whose width is greater than the magnetic field penetration depth, in weak magnetic fields. Particular attention is paid to the role of the boundary potential barrier (the Bin-Livingston barrier) in critical state formation and detection of the edge responsible for this critical state with different mutual orientations of external perpendicular magnetic field and transport current. Critical and resistive states of the film were visualized using the space-resolving low-temperature laser scanning microscopy (LTLSM) method, which enables detection of critical current-determining areas on the film edges. Based on these observations, a simple technique was developed for investigation of the critical state separately at each film edge, and for the estimation of residual magnetic fields in cryostats. The proposed method only requires recording of the current-voltage characteristics of the film in a weak magnetic field, thus circumventing the need for complex LTLSM techniques. Information thus obtained is particularly important for interpretation of studies of superconducting film single-photon light emission detectors.

First-principles approach for superconducting slabs and heterostructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Csire, Gabor [Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest (Hungary)

2016-07-01

We present a fully ab-initio method to calculate the transition temperature for superconducting slabs and heterostructures. In the case of thin superconductor layers the electron-phonon interaction may change significantly. Therefore we calculate the layer dependent phonon spectrum to determine the layer dependence of the electron-phonon coupling for such systems. The phonon spectrum is than coupled to the Kohn-Sham-Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation via the McMillan-Hopfield parameter, and it is solved self-consistently. The theory is applied to niobium slabs and niobium-gold heterostructures. Based on these calculations we investigate both the dependence of the superconducting transition temperature on the thickness of superconducting slabs and the inverse proximity effect observed in thin superconducting heterostructures.

Superconductivity of a Sn film controlled by an array of Co nanowires

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Z.; Ye, Z.; Rathnayaka, K. D. D.; Lyuksyutov, I. F.; Wu, W.; Naugle, D. G.

2012-09-01

Superconducting properties of a hybrid structure composed of ferromagnetic Co nanowire arrays and a superconducting Sn film have been investigated. Ordered Co nanowires arrays with 60 nm, 150 nm and 200 nm diameter were electroplated into the pores of self organized Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO) membranes. Hysteretic dependence of the Sn film superconducting properties on applied magnetic field and critical current enhancement at moderate fields has been observed. This behavior strongly depends on the ratio of the Sn film thickness to the Co nanowire diameter.

Superconductivity of a Sn film controlled by an array of Co nanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, Z.; Ye, Z.; Rathnayaka, K.D.D.; Lyuksyutov, I.F.; Wu, W.; Naugle, D.G.

2012-01-01

Superconducting properties of a hybrid structure composed of ferromagnetic Co nanowire arrays and a superconducting Sn film have been investigated. Ordered Co nanowires arrays with 60 nm, 150 nm and 200 nm diameter were electroplated into the pores of self organized Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO) membranes. Hysteretic dependence of the Sn film superconducting properties on applied magnetic field and critical current enhancement at moderate fields has been observed. This behavior strongly depends on the ratio of the Sn film thickness to the Co nanowire diameter.

Superconducting Fluctuations above T c and pair breaking parameters of two dimensional Niobium Nitride Films

Science.gov (United States)

Shinozaki, B.; Ezaki, S.; Odou, T.; Makise, K.; Asano, T.

2018-03-01

Transport properties have been investigated for the epitaxial superconducting NbN thin films. We analysed the excess conductance σ’ ≡ σ(T) - σN by the sum of the Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) and Maki-Thompson (MT) terms for thermal fluctuations above T c, where the σN ≡1/R sq N is the normal state sheet conductance. We have found that the theoretical expression σ’theo (T) = σ’AL (T) + σ’MT (T,δ) can be well fitted to σ’exp (T) with use of the suitable value of the pair breaking parameter δ in the MT term relating to the inelastic scattering rate 1/τin(T) as δ = πħ/8k B Tτin. The rate 1/τin(T) given by the sum of 1/τfluc(T), 1/τe-e(T) and 1/τe-ph (T) is determined from the analysis of the magneto-conductance Δσ = σ(H) – σ(0) by the sum of AL, MT and the localization terms, where the first, second and third terms correspond to the rate due to the superconducting fluctuation effect, electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions, respectively. The R sq N dependence of δ is expressed by δ = δ0 + αR sq N, where the first term δ0 due to 1/τe-ph (T) and the second term due to the sum of 1/τfluc(T) and 1/τe-e(T). Although we obtained a reasonable value of Debye temperature ΘD ≈630 K from the δ0, the magnitude of the α is about 5 times larger than the theoretical value.

Material options for the superconducting rf system of the Future Circular Collider

CERN Document Server

Aull, Sarah; Butterworth, Andy; Schwerg, Nikolai

2018-01-01

The design of the superconducting RF (SRF) systems of the Future Circular Collider (FCC) machine variants requires a thorough comparison of the different options for cavity material, oper- ating temperature and frequency. We collected representative SRF performance data at different frequencies and temperatures of bulk niobium as the standard technology and of niobium thin films as a potential alternative and develop a perspective for future performance for all material- frequency-temperature combinations as function of accelerating gradient. Based on this perspective, we estimate the corresponding cryogenic grid power for the different FCC machines showing the most favourable accelerating gradients for the different materials and operating temperatures. Further- more, we discuss advantages, disadvantages and limitations of the different technology options to be taken into consideration.

Design and performance of a new induction furnace for heat treatment of superconducting radiofrequency niobium cavities.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhakal, Pashupati; Ciovati, Gianluigi; Rigby, Wayne; Wallace, John; Myneni, Ganapati Rao

2012-06-01

Superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities made of high purity niobium (Nb) are the building blocks of many modern particle accelerators. The fabrication process includes several cycles of chemical and heat treatment at low (∼120 °C) and high (∼800 °C) temperatures. In this contribution, we describe the design and performance of an ultra-high-vacuum furnace which uses an induction heating system to heat treat SRF cavities. Cavities are heated by radiation from the Nb susceptor. By using an all-niobium hot zone, contamination of the Nb cavity by foreign elements during heat treatment is minimized and allows avoiding subsequent chemical etching. The furnace was operated up to 1400 °C with a maximum pressure of ∼1 × 10(-5) Torr and the maximum achievable temperature is estimated to be higher than 2000 °C. Initial results on the performance of a single cell 1.5 GHz cavity made of ingot Nb heat treated at 1200 °C using this new induction furnace and without subsequent chemical etching showed a reduction of the RF losses by a factor of ∼2 compared to cavities made of fine-grain Nb which underwent standard chemical and heat treatments.

Anodization-based process for the fabrication of all niobium nitride Josephson junction structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Massimiliano Lucci

2017-03-01

Full Text Available We studied the growth and oxidation of niobium nitride (NbN films that we used to fabricate superconductive tunnel junctions. The thin films were deposited by dc reactive magnetron sputtering using a mixture of argon and nitrogen. The process parameters were optimized by monitoring the plasma with an optical spectroscopy technique. This technique allowed us to obtain NbN as well as good quality AlN films and both were used to obtain NbN/AlN/NbN trilayers. Lift-off lithography and selective anodization of the NbN films were used, respectively, to define the main trilayer geometry and/or to separate electrically, different areas of the trilayers. The anodized films were characterized by using Auger spectroscopy to analyze compounds formed on the surface and by means of a nano-indenter in order to investigate its mechanical and adhesion properties. The transport properties of NbN/AlN/NbN Josephson junctions obtained as a result of the above described fabrication process were measured in liquid helium at 4.2 K.

Commissioning and modification of the low temperature scanning polarization microscope (TTSPM) and imaging of the local magnetic flux density distribution in superconducting niobium samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gruenzweig, Matthias Sebastian Peter

2014-01-01

possible to image the magnetization reversal process and thus the formation (or destruction) and the migration of an ''Interfacial Domain Wall'' (IDW) in such a Fe 1-x Tb x / vertical stroke Co/Pt vertical stroke n -heterostructure. Part II of the dissertation is about the magneto-optical imaging of superconducting Niobium coplanar microwave resonators as well as of a Niobium single crystal. By means of the magneto-optical images of the resonators, important findings about magnetic hysteresis effects in such coplanar microwave resonators could be achieved. It was also possible to confirm the results of transmission spectroscopy experiments on those coplanar resonators, which were performed in a previous dissertation of Daniel Bothner. Additionally, it was possible to show that initially inserted Abrikosov vortices can be almost completely removed from the coplanar resonators again by properly cycling the magnetic field. On the basis of magneto-optical images of a 2 mm thick Niobium single crystal, it was possible to observe dendritic avalanches in a superconducting bulk material for the first time. Here, the dendritic avalanches only appear in a very narrow temperature interval of about a tenth of a Kelvin below the critical temperature T c of the Niobium single crystal. Below this threshold temperature the magnetic flux penetrates nearly homogeneously into the single crystal. The observed dendritic avalanches in the bulk single crystal near T c have features which are identical to those seen in thin films at low temperatures caused by thermomagnetic instability. Therefore, one can conclude that the dendritic avalanches in the single crystal are formed in a thin superconducting layer at the surface of the single crystal, which can be formed under certain conditions near T c .

Superconducting radio frequency cavities: design, development and results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prakash, P.N.; Mistri, K.K.; Sonti, S.S.K.; Sacharias, J.; Raiand, A.; Kanjilal, D.

2013-01-01

In recent years, the development of superconducting niobium cavities has evoked a lot of interest among the accelerator physics community of India. Many laboratories are planning to develop superconducting niobium cavities for new accelerators and applications. Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) has been engaged in the indigenous development of niobium resonators for over a decade. During this period, several quarter wave resonators have been successfully built, tested and installed in the superconducting linac at IUAC. A new niobium low beta resonator for the High Current Injector (HCI) project has been designed, prototyped and tested. In addition to the in-house projects, IUAC is nearing completion of two niobium single spoke resonators (SSR1) for Fermi Lab, USA. Under the Indian Institutions and Fermi Lab Collaboration (IIFC), Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore and Inter-University Accelerator Centre have jointly developed TESLA-type 1.3 GHz single cell cavities which have achieved very high accelerating gradients. Buoyed by the success of this work, a 5-cell 1.3 GHz cavity with simple end tubes has been successfully built. This cavity is presently at Fermi Lab for 2 K tests. Recently, a 650 MHz, β=0.9 single cell cavity has also been successfully completed and is ready for cold tests. There are plans to develop a 650 MHz, β=0.6 single cell cavity in collaboration with VECC, Kolkata. This paper presents the status of the niobium cavities developed at Inter-University Accelerator Centre. (author)

Niobium Pentoxide thin films employ simple colloidal suspension at low preparation temperature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abood M. K.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this work a nano-colloidal suspension is used to prepare Nb2O5 thin films. The effect of different substrates on structural properties of niobium pentoxide thin film deposited by spin coating technique on silicon and quartz substrates are presented. We observed that the obtained structure is monocline in both substrates. The diffraction peaks in both substrates ensured the successful formation of Nb2O5 thin films with a clear polymorphous structure. However, the structure became more crystalline with additional distinguished peaks on silicon substrate comparing to quartz substrate. The extracted structural parameters from X-Ray diffraction show that the grain size of the thin films on quartz is smaller than silicon with the values of 16.47 nm and 20.98 nm respectively. The stress measurement records the values of 0.19 and 0.00719 for the thin films deposited on silicon and quartz substrates respectively. Effects of film thickness depicted increment in the absorbance and reduction in the band gap. Energy gaps of 2.7, 2.58 and, 2.5 eV are measured as a result of increasing the film thicknesses of 325, 420 and 450 nm respectively.

Ultrathin NbN Films for Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slysz, W.; Guziewicz, M.; Borysiewicz, M.

2011-01-01

We present our research on fabrication and structural and transport characterization of ultrathin superconducting NbN layers deposited on both single-crystal Al 2 O 3 and Si wafers, and SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 buffer layers grown directly on Si wafers. The thicknesses of our films varied from 6 nm to 50 nm and they were grown using reactive RF magnetron sputtering on substrates maintained at the temperature 850 o C. We have performed extensive morphology characterization of our films using the X-ray diffraction method and atomic force microscopy, and related the results to the type of the substrate used for the film deposition. Our transport measurements showed that even the thinnest, 6 nm thick NbN films had the superconducting critical temperature of 10-12 K, which was increased to 14 K for thicker films. (author)

A Method for Suppressing Superconductivity of Thin Films

Science.gov (United States)

Suppula, Tarmo; Pekola, Jukka; Kauppinen, Juha

2003-03-01

We have developed a method for suppressing superconductivity of thin films. Thin stripes of cobalt grown by e-gun evaporation and patterned by e-beam lithography were placed in the vicinity of aluminium thin film structures. The cobalt stripes were magnetized at 4.2 K with a superconducting coil and the remanence suppressed superconductivity of the Al stripe at temperatures down to 50 mK at least. The magnetization remained in thermal cycling and in a longer storage at room temperature. Motivation for this work is the Coulomb Blockade Thermometer(CBT)^1 which has to be in a normal state to operate. The CBT sensor contains aluminium which is superconducting at temperatures below 1.4 K. An external magnetic field is not always available or acceptable in cryostats. A small grain of permanent magnet mounted to the sensor is another solution, but suspicious if the sensor is put in strong magnetic fields or if "zero field" environment is required. We have shown that suitably patterned and magnetized Co stripes in the vicinity of tunnel junctions of the CBT can solve this problem. The amount of magnetic material in the sensor, as well as the stray field, is very small. This technique may be useful in other low temperature thin film devices also. 1) Product of Nanoway Ltd.

Method of stabilizing Nb3Sn superconducting foils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kruzliak, J.; Lences, P.; Allarova, H.

1982-01-01

The stabilization of niobium-tin Nb 3 Sn superconducting foils with copper is carried out by deposition or by diffusion in pure copper or in a tin bath containing different copper levels, with the surface etched or unetched. The foils are covered with a copper film at a temperature of 300 to 5O0 degC using a tin solder, spread on a copper, silver or nickel layer deposited on the foil surface from solutions for electroless plating. The bond between the surface of the superconducting foil and the electroless plated metal layer is annealed in a controlled atmosphere or in a vacuum at a temperature of 200 to 500 degC for over 20 to 60 minutes. The copper stabilization layer can also be produced electrolytically. (J.B.)

Meissner effect in superconducting microtraps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cano, Daniel

2009-01-01

This thesis investigates the impact of the Meissner effect on magnetic microtraps for ultracold atoms near superconducting microstructures. This task has been accomplished both theoretically and experimentally. The Meissner effect distorts the magnetic fields near superconducting surfaces, thus altering the parameters of magnetic microtraps. Both computer simulations and experimental measurements demonstrate that the Meissner effect shortens the distance between the magnetic microtrap and the superconducting surface, reduces the magnetic-field gradients and dramatically lowers the trap depth. A novel numerical method for calculating magnetic fields in atom chips with superconducting microstructures has been developed. This numerical method overcomes the geometrical limitations of other calculation techniques and can solve superconducting microstructures of arbitrary geometry. The numerical method has been used to calculate the parameters of magnetic microtraps in computer-simulated chips containing thin-film wires. Simulations were carried out for both the superconducting and the normal-conducting state, and the differences between the two cases were analyzed. Computer simulations have been contrasted with experimental measurements. The experimental apparatus generates a magnetic microtrap for ultracold Rubidium atoms near a superconducting Niobium wire of circular cross section. The design and construction of the apparatus has met the challenge of integrating the techniques for producing atomic quantum gases with the techniques for cooling solid bodies to cryogenic temperatures. By monitoring the position of the atom cloud, one can observe how the Meissner effect influences the magnetic microtrap. (orig.)

Meissner effect in superconducting microtraps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cano, Daniel

2009-04-30

This thesis investigates the impact of the Meissner effect on magnetic microtraps for ultracold atoms near superconducting microstructures. This task has been accomplished both theoretically and experimentally. The Meissner effect distorts the magnetic fields near superconducting surfaces, thus altering the parameters of magnetic microtraps. Both computer simulations and experimental measurements demonstrate that the Meissner effect shortens the distance between the magnetic microtrap and the superconducting surface, reduces the magnetic-field gradients and dramatically lowers the trap depth. A novel numerical method for calculating magnetic fields in atom chips with superconducting microstructures has been developed. This numerical method overcomes the geometrical limitations of other calculation techniques and can solve superconducting microstructures of arbitrary geometry. The numerical method has been used to calculate the parameters of magnetic microtraps in computer-simulated chips containing thin-film wires. Simulations were carried out for both the superconducting and the normal-conducting state, and the differences between the two cases were analyzed. Computer simulations have been contrasted with experimental measurements. The experimental apparatus generates a magnetic microtrap for ultracold Rubidium atoms near a superconducting Niobium wire of circular cross section. The design and construction of the apparatus has met the challenge of integrating the techniques for producing atomic quantum gases with the techniques for cooling solid bodies to cryogenic temperatures. By monitoring the position of the atom cloud, one can observe how the Meissner effect influences the magnetic microtrap. (orig.)

Fabrication of thick superconducting films by decantation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julián Betancourt M.

1991-07-01

Full Text Available We have found superconducting behavior in thick films fabricated by decantation. In this paper we present the experimental method and results obtained using commercial copper substrates.

Effect of interstitial impurities on the field dependent microwave surface resistance of niobium

Science.gov (United States)

Martinello, M.; Grassellino, A.; Checchin, M.; Romanenko, A.; Melnychuk, O.; Sergatskov, D. A.; Posen, S.; Zasadzinski, J. F.

2016-08-01

Previous work has demonstrated that the radio frequency surface resistance of niobium resonators is dramatically reduced when nitrogen impurities are dissolved as interstitial in the material. This effect is attributed to the lowering of the Mattis-Bardeen surface resistance with increasing accelerating field; however, the microscopic origin of this phenomenon is poorly understood. Meanwhile, an enhancement of the sensitivity to trapped magnetic field is typically observed for such cavities. In this paper, we conduct a systematic study on these different components contributing to the total surface resistance as a function of different levels of dissolved nitrogen, in comparison with standard surface treatments for niobium resonators. Adding these results together, we are able to show which is the optimum surface treatment that maximizes the Q-factor of superconducting niobium resonators as a function of expected trapped magnetic field in the cavity walls. These results also provide insights on the physics behind the change in the field dependence of the Mattis-Bardeen surface resistance, and of the trapped magnetic vortex induced losses in superconducting niobium resonators.

Synthesis and superconducting properties of niobium germanium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kihlstrom, K.E.

1982-01-01

By carefully controlling temperature homogeneity during preparation of the Nb 3 Ge samples, homogeneous films have been prepared of high-T/sub c/Nb 3 Ge. Homogeneity is demonstrated by a sharp transition width (ΔT/sub c/ 6 amps/cm 2 which are the highest ever reported for any material at this temperature. The successful film synthesis has made it possible to study the superconducting properties of Nb 3 Ge. High quality A15 NbGe/(SiO/sub x/)/Pb tunnel juctions on electron beam codeposited oxygen-doped Nb 3 Ge have been fabricated. 2Δ/(k/sub B/T/sub c/ rises from the BCS limit in Ge-poor samples to become strong coupled (2Δk/sub B/T/sub c/ approx. 4.35) as stoichiometry is approached. The electron-phonon spectral function α 2 F(ω) and related microscopic parameters were obtained. As the T/sub c/ and gap increase, a movement of the lowest phonon branch to lower energies is observed with a resultant decrease in (ω 2 ). Thus lambda increases with T/sub c/ while (ω 2 ) decreases in agreement with the idea that mode softening is a major factor in the increase of T/sub c/ with approach to stoichiometry as previously found in Nb 3 Al by Kwo and Geballe

Prototype superconducting radio-frequency cavity for LEP

CERN Multimedia

1985-01-01

This niobium superconducting cavity was part of the prototype stages for an upgrade to LEP, known as LEP-2. Superconducting cavities would eventually replace the traditional copper cavities and allow beam energies of 100 GeV.

Magnetic Field Enhanced Superconductivity in Epitaxial Thin Film WTe2.

Science.gov (United States)

Asaba, Tomoya; Wang, Yongjie; Li, Gang; Xiang, Ziji; Tinsman, Colin; Chen, Lu; Zhou, Shangnan; Zhao, Songrui; Laleyan, David; Li, Yi; Mi, Zetian; Li, Lu

2018-04-25

In conventional superconductors an external magnetic field generally suppresses superconductivity. This results from a simple thermodynamic competition of the superconducting and magnetic free energies. In this study, we report the unconventional features in the superconducting epitaxial thin film tungsten telluride (WTe 2 ). Measuring the electrical transport properties of Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) grown WTe 2 thin films with a high precision rotation stage, we map the upper critical field H c2 at different temperatures T. We observe the superconducting transition temperature T c is enhanced by in-plane magnetic fields. The upper critical field H c2 is observed to establish an unconventional non-monotonic dependence on temperature. We suggest that this unconventional feature is due to the lifting of inversion symmetry, which leads to the enhancement of H c2 in Ising superconductors.

Swift heavy ion irradiation induced phase transformation in undoped and niobium doped titanium dioxide composite thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gautam, Subodh K., E-mail: subodhkgtm@gmail.com [Inter University Accelerator Centre, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110 067 (India); Chettah, Abdelhak [LGMM Laboratory, Université 20 Août 1955-Skikda, BP 26, 21000 Skikda (Algeria); Singh, R.G. [Department of Physics, Bhagini Nivedita College, Delhi University, Delhi 110043 (India); Ojha, Sunil; Singh, Fouran [Inter University Accelerator Centre, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110 067 (India)

2016-07-15

Study reports the effect of swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation induced phase transformation in undoped and Niobium doped anatase TiO{sub 2} composite thin films. Investigations were carried out at different densities of electronic excitations (EEs) using 120 MeV Ag and 130 MeV Ni ions irradiations. Films were initially annealed at 900 °C and results revealed that undoped films were highly stable in anatase phase, while the Nb doped films showed the composite nature with the weak presence of Niobium penta-oxide (Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}) phase. The effect at low density of EEs in undoped film show partial anatase to rutile phase transformation; however doped film shows only further growth of Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} phase beside the anatase to rutile phase transformation. At higher density of EEs induced by Ag ions, registered continuous ion track of ∼3 nm in lattice which leads to nano-crystallization followed by decomposition/amorphization of rutile TiO{sub 2} and Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} phases in undoped and doped films, respectively. However, Ni ions are only induced discontinuous sequence of ion tracks with creation of damage and disorder and do not show amorphization in the lattice. The in-elastic thermal spike calculations were carried out for anatase TiO{sub 2} phase to understand the effect of EEs on anatase to rutile phase transformation followed by amorphization in NTO films in terms of continuous and discontinuous track formation by SHI irradiation.

High temperature superconducting films by rf magnetron sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kadin, A.M.; Ballentine, P.H.

1989-01-01

The authors have produced sputtered films of Y-Ba-Cu-O and Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O by rf magnetron sputtering from an oxide target consisting of loose reacted powder. The use of a large 8-inch stoichiometric target in the magnetron mode permits films located above the central region to be free of negative-ion resputtering effects, and hence yields reproducible, uniform stoichiometric compositions for a wide range of substrate temperatures. Superconducting YBCO films have been obtained either by sputtering at low temperatures followed by an 850 0 C oxygen anneal, or alternatively by depositing onto substrates heated to ∼600 - 650 0 C and cooling in oxygen. Films prepared by the former method on cubic zirconia substrate consist of randomly oriented crystallites with zero resistance above 83 K. Those deposited on zirconia at medium temperatures without the high-temperature anneal contain smooth partially oriented crystallites, with a slightly depressed T/sub c/ ∼75K. Finally, superconducting films have been deposited on MgO using a BiSrCaCu/sub 2/O/sub x/ powder target

Evolution of superconducting properties with disorder in epitaxial NbN films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chockalingam, S P; Chand, Madhavi; Jesudasan, John; Raychaudhuri, Pratap; Tripathi, Vikram

2009-01-01

NbN is a conventional BCS superconductor in which disorder can be tuned from moderately clean limit to dirty limit without affecting its epitaxial nature. We studied the superconducting properties of epitaxial NbN films of different disorder characterized by k F l ranging from 8.77 to 2.56 through the transport measurements. Using reactive magnetron sputtering NbN films of different disorder are deposited by varying the sputtering power and amount of N 2 in Ar:N 2 mixture of sputtering gas. The disorder parameter k F l is obtained from the carrier density (n) and the resistivity (ρ) of the films. NbN films with higher disorder have lower transition temperature (T c ) and larger resistivity which decreases with decreasing disorder. The carrier density determined from Hall measurements show that highly disordered films have lower carrier density and vice versa. Our studies show that NbN is a good system to investigate the effects of disorder on superconductivity where the superconducting properties evolve with the disorder in thin films.

Niobium and zirconium telluride thin films prepared by sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kassem, M.; Pailharey, D.; Mathey, Y.

2000-01-01

A versatile procedure of sputter deposition, well adapted for getting a large of Te/M ratios (with M = Zr or Nb), has led to the synthesis of several highly anisotropic zirconium and niobium poly tellurides in thin film form. Upon tuning the two key parameters of the process, i.e., the Te percentage in the target and the substrate temperature during the deposition, preparation of systems ranging from ZrTe 0 .72 to ZrTe 6 .7, on the one hand, and from NbTe 1 .28 to NbTe 7 .84, on the other, has been achieved. Besides their amorphous or crystalline (with or without preferential orientations) behavior and their relationship to known structural types, the most striking feature of these films is their large departure from the stoichiometry of the bulk Mte x reference compounds. This peculiarity, together with the possible changes of composition under annealing, are described and interpreted in terms of variable of Te and M atoms trapped or intercalated within the parent structures. (author)

Excessive current in wide superconducting films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volotskaya, V.G.; Sivakov, A.G.; Turutanov, O.G.

1986-01-01

The resistive state of a wide long film due to superconductivity destruction by current is studied. The voltage-independent excess current I 0 is observed on I-V curves at high transport currents. The two-dimensional image of the current-carrying sample obtained by laser scanning technique in this current range indicates that the whole film is in the resistive state. The current I 0 is measured as a function of magnetic field and SHF power

Characterization of Nb coating in HIE-ISOLDE QWR superconducting accelerating cavities by means of SEM-FIB and TEM

CERN Document Server

Bartova, Barbora; Taborelli, M; Aebersold, A B; Alexander, D T L; Cantoni, M; Calatroni, Sergio; CERN. Geneva. ATS Department

2015-01-01

The Quarter Wave Resonators (QWR) high-β cavities (0.3 m diameter and 0.9 m height) are made from OFE 3D-forged copper and are coated by DC-bias diode sputtering with a thin superconducting layer of niobium. The Nb film thickness, morphology, purity and quality are critical parameters for RF performances of the cavity. They have been investigated in a detailed material study.

Effect of point disorder on superconducting properties of ultrathin epitaxial NbN films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jesudasan, John; Bagwe, Vivas; Mondal, Mintu; Chand, Madhavi; Kamlapure, Anand; Pai, S.P.; Raychaudhuri, Pratap; Mishra, Archana

2009-01-01

We synthesized homogeneously disordered epitaxial NbN films on MgO(100) substrates using reactive dc magnetron sputtering. The disorder of the films is characterized by the Loffe-Regel parameter k F I. The superconducting properties are studied through transport, ac-susceptibility measurements and electron tunneling. The superconducting transition temperature is studied as a function of thickness for films of different disorder. In the case of the less disordered film, there is a smooth decrease in T c with decreasing thickness but for the more disordered film, the T c shows a sharp decrease to zero at a threshold thickness. The superconducting energy gap is studied via planar tunnel junctions. It is found that for the less disordered films, the temperature dependence of the gap follows the BCS variation but for the more disordered ones, there is a significant deviation from the BCS curve, and the gap remains finite at T c indicating that the superconducting transition is either governed by phase fluctuations or a first order phase transition. (author)

Tunneling probe of fluctuating superconductivity in disordered thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Dentelski, David; Frydman, Aviad; Shimshoni, Efrat; Dalla Torre, Emanuele G.

2018-03-01

Disordered thin films close to the superconductor-insulator phase transition (SIT) hold the key to understanding quantum phase transition in strongly correlated materials. The SIT is governed by superconducting quantum fluctuations, which can be revealed, for example, by tunneling measurements. These experiments detect a spectral gap, accompanied by suppressed coherence peaks, on both sides of the transition. Here we describe the insulating side in terms of a fluctuating superconducting field with finite-range correlations. We perform a controlled diagrammatic resummation and derive analytic expressions for the tunneling differential conductance. We find that short-range superconducting fluctuations suppress the coherence peaks even in the presence of long-range correlations. Our approach offers a quantitative description of existing measurements on disordered thin films and accounts for tunneling spectra with suppressed coherence peaks.

Insights to Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavity Processing from First Principles Calculations and Spectroscopic Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Denise Christine

Insights to the fundamental processes that occur during the manufacturing of niobium superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities are provided via analyses of density functional theory calculations and Raman, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. I show that during electropolishing fluorine is bound and released by the reaction of the acid components in the solution: HF + H2SO4 HFSO3 + H2O. This result implies that new recipes can possibly be developed on the principle of controlled release of fluorine by a chemical reaction. I also show that NMR or Raman spectroscopy can be used to monitor the free fluorine when polishing with the standard electropolishing recipe. Density functional theory was applied to calculate the properties of common processing impurities---hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon---in the niobium. These impurities lower the superconducting transition temperature of niobium, and hydride precipitates are at best weakly superconducting. I modeled several of the niobium hydride phases relevant to SRF cavities, and explain the phase changes in the niobium hydrogen system based on the charge transfer between niobium and hydrogen and the strain field inside of the niobium. I also present evidence for a niobium lattice vacancy serving as a nucleation center for hydride phase formation. In considering the other chemical impurities in niobium, I show that the absorption of oxygen into a niobium lattice vacancy is preferred over the absorption of hydrogen, which indicates that oxygen can block these phase nucleation centers. I also show that dissolved oxygen atoms can trap dissolved hydrogen atoms to prevent niobium hydride phase formation. Nitrogen and carbon were studied in less depth, but behaved similarly to oxygen. Based on these results and a literature survey, I propose a mechanism for the success of the low-temperature anneal applied to niobium SRF cavities. Finally, I present the beginning of a model to describe magnetic

Insights to Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavity Processing from First Principles Calculations and Spectroscopic Techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ford, Denise Christine [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)

2013-03-01

Insights to the fundamental processes that occur during the manufacturing of niobium superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities are provided via analyses of density functional theory calculations and Raman, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. I show that during electropolishing fluorine is bound and released by the reaction of the acid components in the solution: HF + H₂SO₄ <-> HFSO₃ + H₂O. This result implies that new recipes can possibly be developed on the principle of controlled release of fluorine by a chemical reaction. I also show that NMR or Raman spectroscopy can be used to monitor the free fluorine when polishing with the standard electropolishing recipe. Density functional theory was applied to calculate the properties of common processing impurities – hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon – in the niobium. These impurities lower the superconducting transition temperature of niobium, and hydride precipitates are at best weakly superconducting. I modeled several of the niobium hydride phases relevant to SRF cavities, and explain the phase changes in the niobium hydrogen system based on the charge transfer between niobium and hydrogen and the strain field inside of the niobium. I also present evidence for a niobium lattice vacancy serving as a nucleation center for hydride phase formation. In considering the other chemical impurities in niobium, I show that the absorption of oxygen into a niobium lattice vacancy is preferred over the absorption of hydrogen, which indicates that oxygen can block these phase nucleation centers. I also show that dissolved oxygen atoms can trap dissolved hydrogen atoms to prevent niobium hydride phase formation. Nitrogen and carbon were studied in less depth, but behaved similarly to oxygen. Based on these results and a literature survey, I propose a mechanism for the success of the low-temperature anneal applied to niobium SRF cavities. Finally, I

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) on SOI for near-infrared range

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trojan, Philipp; Il' in, Konstantin; Henrich, Dagmar; Hofherr, Matthias; Doerner, Steffen; Siegel, Michael [Institut fuer Mikro- und Nanoelektronische Systeme (IMS), Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie (KIT) (Germany); Semenov, Alexey [Institut fuer Planetenforschung, DLR, Berlin-Adlershof (Germany); Huebers, Heinz-Wilhelm [Institut fuer Planetenforschung, DLR, Berlin-Adlershof (Germany); Institut fuer Optik und Atomare Physik, Technische Universitaet Berlin (Germany)

2013-07-01

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors are promising devices for photon detectors with high count rates, low dark count rates and low dead times. At wavelengths beyond the visible range, the detection efficiency of today's SNSPDs drops significantly. Moreover, the low absorption in ultra-thin detector films is a limiting factor over the entire spectral range. Solving this problem requires approaches for an enhancement of the absorption range in feeding the light to the detector element. A possibility to obtain a better absorption is the use of multilayer substrate materials for photonic waveguide structures. We present results on development of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors made from niobium nitride on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) multilayer substrates. Optical and superconducting properties of SNSPDs on SOI will be discussed and compared with the characteristics of detectors on common substrates.

Topographic power spectral density study of the effect of surface treatment processes on niobium for superconducting radio frequency accelerator cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Chen; Tian, Hui; Reece, Charles E.; Kelley, Michael J.

2012-04-01

Microroughness is viewed as a critical issue for attaining optimum performance of superconducting radio frequency accelerator cavities. The principal surface smoothing methods are buffered chemical polish (BCP) and electropolish (EP). The resulting topography is characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The power spectral density (PSD) of AFM data provides a more thorough description of the topography than a single-value roughness measurement. In this work, one dimensional average PSD functions derived from topography of BCP and EP with different controlled starting conditions and durations have been fitted with a combination of power law, K correlation, and shifted Gaussian models to extract characteristic parameters at different spatial harmonic scales. While the simplest characterizations of these data are not new, the systematic tracking of scale-specific roughness as a function of processing is new and offers feedback for tighter process prescriptions more knowledgably targeted at beneficial niobium topography for superconducting radio frequency applications.

Topographic power spectral density study of the effect of surface treatment processes on niobium for superconducting radio frequency accelerator cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reece, Charles; Tian, Hui; Kelley, Michael; Xu, Chen

2012-01-01

Microroughness is viewed as a critical issue for attaining optimum performance of superconducting radio frequency accelerator cavities. The principal surface smoothing methods are buffered chemical polish (BCP) and electropolish (EP). The resulting topography is characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The power spectral density (PSD) of AFM data provides a more thorough description of the topography than a single-value roughness measurement. In this work, one dimensional average PSD functions derived from topography of BCP and EP with different controlled starting conditions and durations have been fitted with a combination of power law, K correlation, and shifted Gaussian models to extract characteristic parameters at different spatial harmonic scales. While the simplest characterizations of these data are not new, the systematic tracking of scale-specific roughness as a function of processing is new and offers feedback for tighter process prescriptions more knowledgably targeted at beneficial niobium topography for superconducting radio frequency applications.

Magnetic shield effect simulation of superconducting film shield covering directly coupled HTS dc-SQUID magnetometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terauchi, N.; Noguchi, S.; Igarashi, H.

2011-01-01

A superconducting film shield over a SQUID ring improves the robustness of the SQUID with respect to magnetic noise. Supercurrent in the SQUID magnetometer and the superconducting film shield were simulated. The superconducting film shield reduces the influence of the external magnetic field on the SQUID ring. An HTS SQUID is a high sensitive magnetic sensor. In recent years, the HTS SQUID is widely used in various applications. In some applications, high robustness with respect to magnetic noise is required to realize stable operation at outside of a magnetic shielding room. The target of this paper is a directly coupled HTS dc-SQUID magnetometer. To enhance the robustness of the SQUID magnetometer, use of a superconducting thin film shield has been proposed. The magnetic field directly penetrating the SQUID ring causes the change of the critical current of Josephson junction, and then the SQUID magnetometer transitions into inoperative state. In order to confirm the magnetic shield effect of the superconducting film shield, electromagnetic field simulation with 3D edge finite element method was performed. To simulate the high temperature superconductor, E-J characteristics and c-axis anisotropy are considered. To evaluate the effect of the superconducting film shield, an external magnetic field which is supposed to be a magnetic noise is applied. From the simulation results, the time transition of the magnetic flux penetrating the SQUID ring is investigated and the effect of the superconducting film shield is confirmed. The amplitude of the magnetic flux penetrating the SQUID ring can be reduced to about one-sixth since the superconducting film shield prevents the magnetic noise from directly penetrating the SQUID ring.

Superconducting linear accelerator system for NSC

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

This paper reports the construction of a superconducting linear accelerator as a booster to the 15 UD Pelletron accelerator at Nuclear Science Centre, New Delhi. The LINAC will use superconducting niobium quarter wave resonators as the accelerating element. Construction of the linear accelerator has progressed ...

Temperature behavior of electrical properties of high-k lead-magnesium-niobium titanate thin-films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen Wenbin, E-mail: cwb0201@163.com [Electromechanical Engineering College, Guilin University of Electronic Technology (China); McCarthy, Kevin G. [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Cork (Ireland); Copuroglu, Mehmet; O' Brien, Shane; Winfield, Richard; Mathewson, Alan [Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork (Ireland)

2012-05-01

This paper reports on the temperature dependence of the electrical properties of high-k lead-magnesium-niobium titanate thin films processed with different compositions (with and without nanoparticles) and with different annealing temperatures (450 Degree-Sign C and 750 Degree-Sign C). These characterization results support the ongoing investigation of the material's electrical properties which are necessary before the dielectric can be used in silicon-based IC applications.

Effect of localized electron states on superconductivity of ultrathin beryllium films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tutov, V.I.; Semenenko, E.E.

1988-01-01

A wide spectrum of distortions is induced in ultrathin beryllium films of thickness less than 10 A, which are responsible for the system transition from the strong localization state completely suppressing superconductivity (in this case R □ of the layer reaches 97600 Ohm) to the weak localization stae coexisting with superconductivity at comparatively high T c (5 K). The resistance per square R □ of the films decreases more than by an order of magnitude. The superconductivity with T c =1.7 K occurs at rather strong localization, when R □ of the layer is 34000 Ohm

Low noise niobium dc SQUID with a planar input coil

Science.gov (United States)

de Waal, V. J.; van den Hamer, P.; Klapwijk, T. M.

1983-02-01

A practical all-niobium dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) with a niobium spiral input coil has been developed. The SQUID utilizes submicron Josephson junctions. The best intrinsic energy resolution obtained with a 1-nH SQUID is 4×10-32 J/Hz. A 20-turn 1.2-μH input coil is coupled to a 2.3-nH SQUID with an efficiency of 0.5. The energy resolution with respect to the coil is 1×10-30 J/Hz.

State of the Art Power-in Tube Niobium-Tin Superconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Godeke, A.; Ouden, A. Den; Nijhuis, A.; ten Kate, H.H.J.

2008-06-01

Powder-in-Tube (PIT) processed Niobium-Tin wires are commercially manufactured for nearly three decades and have demonstrated a combination of very high current density (presently up to 2500 A mm{sup -2} non-Cu at 12 T and 4.2 K) with fine (35 {micro}m), well separated filaments. We review the developments that have led to the present state of the art PIT Niobium-Tin wires, discuss the wire manufacturing and A15 formation processes, and describe typical superconducting performance in relation to magnetic field and strain. We further highlight successful applications of PIT wires and conclude with an outlook on possibilities for further improvements in the performance of PIT Niobium-Tin wires.

Y-Ba-Cu-O superconducting film on oxidized silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, R.P.; Khokle, W.S.; Dubey, R.C.; Singhal, S.; Nagpal, K.C.; Rao, G.S.T.; Jain, J.D.

1988-01-01

We report thick superconducting films of Y-Ba-Cu-O on oxidized silicon substrates. The critical temperatures for onset and zero resistance are 96 and 77 K, respectively. X-ray diffraction analysis predicts 1, 2, 3 composition and orthorhombic phase of the film

Stoichiometry and superconductive properties of YBaCuO films deposited by spray pyrolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conde-Gallardo, A.; Falcony, C.; Ortiz, A.

1994-01-01

The dependence of the stoichiometry and the superconducting characteristics of YBaCuO films deposited by spray pyrolysis on the spraying solution composition and the deposition conditions is reported. It has been found that a proper optimization of the starting materials concentration in the spraying solution results in superconducting films with zero resistance temperature of 91 K and a transition to superconducting state within a 3 K range. X-ray diffraction and resistance vs temperature measurements have been used to monitor the crystal composition and the conductive characteristics of the films as a function of the spraying solution composition and the deposition parameters

Ferromagnetic film on a superconducting substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bulaevskii, L. N.; Chudnovsky, E. M.

2001-01-01

We study the equilibrium domain structure and magnetic flux around a ferromagnetic film with perpendicular magnetization M 0 on a superconducting (SC) substrate. At 4πM 0 c1 the SC is in the Meissner state and the equilibrium domain width in the film, l, scales as (l/4πλ L )=(l N /4πλ L ) 2/3 with the domain width on a normal (nonsuperconducting) substrate, l N /4πλ L >>1; λ L being the London penetration length

Comparison of water degradation of YBaCuO superconducting films made from different structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, C.; Tsai, J.A.

1988-01-01

Immersion of YBaCuO superconducting films in water has shown a large difference in degradation between structures with and without silver. For the structures containing silver layers and depositing at a high temperature, superconducting films with zero resistance at 87 K remain superconductive at 77 K after 5 h immersion in water, with an increase in room-temperature film resistance by a factor of 4; the contact resistance remains low after 60 h of immersion, allowing the measurement at low temperatures. For the structures containing no silver and depositing at room temperature, the contact resistance rapidly increases with immersion times, making the measurement at 77 K difficult after 5 min of immersion. Changes in the sharpness of the superconductive transition, and structures of the films due to the water immersion are also compared

Improvement of transistor characteristics and stability for solution-processed ultra-thin high-valence niobium doped zinc-tin oxide thin film transistors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeng, Jiann-Shing, E-mail: jsjeng@mail.nutn.edu.tw

2016-08-15

Nb-doped Zinc tin oxide (NZTO) channel materials have been prepared by solution process in combination with the spin-coating method. All NZTO thin film transistors (TFTs) are n-type enhancement-mode devices, either without or with Nb additives. High-valence niobium ion (ionic charge = +5) has a larger ionic potential and similar ionic radius to Zn{sup 2+} and Sn{sup 4+} ions. As compared with the pure ZTO device, introducing Nb{sup 5+} ions into the ZTO channel layers can improve the electrical properties and bias stability of TFTs because of the reduction of the oxygen vacancies. This study discusses the connection among the material properties of the NZTO films and the electrical performance and bias stability of NZTO TFTs and how they are influenced by the Nb/(Nb + Sn) molar ratios of NZTO films. - Highlights: • Ultra-thin high-valence niobium doped zinc-tin oxide (NZTO) thin films are prepared using a solution process. • Nb dopants in ZTO films reduce the oxygen vacancy and subgap adsorption of the ZTO films. • The Nb-doping concentration of the NZTO channel layer has a strong influence on the TFT performance.

Deposition of superconducting (Cu, C)-Ba-O films by pulsed laser deposition at moderate temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Tetsuro; Kikunaga, Kazuya; Obara, Kozo; Terada, Norio; Kikuchi, Naoto; Tanaka, Yasumoto; Tokiwa, Kazuyasu; Watanabe, Tsuneo; Sundaresan, Athinarayanan; Shipra

2007-01-01

Superconducting (Cu, C)-Ba-O thin films have been epitaxially grown on (100) SrTiO 3 at a low growth temperature of 500-600 deg. C by pulsed laser deposition. The dependences of their crystallinity and transport properties on preparation conditions have been investigated in order to clarify the dominant parameters for carbon incorporation and the emergence of superconductivity. It has been revealed that the CO 3 content in the films increases with increasing both the parameters of partial pressure of CO 2 during film growth and those of growth rate and enhancement of superconducting properties. The present study has also revealed that the structural and superconducting properties of the (Cu, C)-Ba-O films are seriously deteriorated by the irradiation of energetic particles during deposition. Suppression of the radiation damage is another key for a high and uniform superconducting transition. By these optimizations, a superconducting onset temperature above 50 K and a zero-resistance temperature above 40 K have been realized

Effect of the niobium additions in the passive films potentiostatically grown in a sulphate medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuri, S.E.; Martins, M.; D'Alkaine, C.V.

1984-01-01

The stability of passive films potentiostatically grown on stainless steel electrodes was studied in a 2 N sulfuric acid. The effect of Niobium contents in the base metal was considered. The reactivation time was measured using the method of Potential Decay Measurements under Open-Circuit Conditions after electrochemical aging in the passivity region, and its influence on the surface oxidation states, was discussed. (Author) [pt

Low noise niobium dc SQUID with a planar input coil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

de Waal, V.J.; van den Hamer, P.; Klapwijk, T.M.

1983-02-15

A practical all-niobium dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) with a niobium spiral input coil has been developed. The SQUID utilizes submicron Josephson junctions. The best intrinsic energy resolution obtained with a 1-nH SQUID is 4 x 10/sup -32/ J/Hz. A 20-turn 1.2-..mu..H input coil is coupled to a 2.3-nH SQUID with an efficiency of 0.5. The energy resolution with respect to the coil is 1 x 10/sup -30/ J/Hz.

Infrared refractive index of thin YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Z.M.; Choi, B.I.; Le, T.A.; Flik, M.I.; Siegal, M.P.; Phillips, J.M.

1992-01-01

This work investigates whether thin-film optics with a constant refractive index can be applied to high-T c superconducting thin films. The reflectance and transmittance of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 films on LaAlO 3 substrates are measured using a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer at wavelengths from 1 to 100 μm at room temperature. The reflectance of these superconducting films at 10K in the wavelength region from 2.5 to 25 μm is measured using a cryogenic reflectance accessory. The film thickness varies from 10 to 200 nm. By modeling the frequency-dependent complex conductivity in the normal and superconducting states and applying electromagnetic-wave theory, the complex refractive index of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 films is obtained with a fitting technique. It is found that a thickness-independent refractive index can be applied even to a 25nm film, and average values of the spectral refractive index for film thicknesses between 25 and 200 nm are recommended for engineering applications

Ferromagnetic film on a superconducting substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bulaevskii, L. N.; Chudnovsky, E. M.

2001-01-01

We study the equilibrium domain structure and magnetic flux around a ferromagnetic film with perpendicular magnetization M{sub 0} on a superconducting (SC) substrate. At 4{pi}M{sub 0}film, l, scales as (l/4{pi}{lambda}{sub L})=(l{sub N}/4{pi}{lambda}{sub L}){sup 2/3} with the domain width on a normal (nonsuperconducting) substrate, l{sub N}/4{pi}{lambda}{sub L}>>1; {lambda}{sub L} being the London penetration length.

A novel approach to characterizing the surface topography of niobium superconducting radio frequency (SRF) accelerator cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Hui; Ribeill, Guilhem; Xu, Chen; Reece, Charles E.; Kelley, Michael J.

2011-03-01

As superconducting niobium radio-frequency (SRF) cavities approach fundamental material limits, there is increased interest in understanding the details of topographical influences on realized performance limitations. Micro- and nano-roughness are implicated in both direct geometrical field enhancements as well as complications of the composition of the 50 nm surface layer in which the super-currents typically flow. Interior surface chemical treatments such as buffered chemical polishing (BCP) and electropolishing (EP) used to remove mechanical damage leave surface topography, including pits and protrusions of varying sharpness. These may promote RF magnetic field entry, locally quenching superconductivity, so as to degrade cavity performance. A more incisive analysis of surface topography than the widely used average roughness is needed. In this study, a power spectral density (PSD) approach based on Fourier analysis of surface topography data acquired by both stylus profilometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) is introduced to distinguish the scale-dependent smoothing effects, resulting in a novel qualitative and quantitative description of Nb surface topography. The topographical evolution of the Nb surface as a function of different steps of well-controlled EP is discussed. This study will greatly help to identify optimum EP parameter sets for controlled and reproducible surface levelling of Nb for cavity production.

A novel approach to characterizing the surface topography of niobium superconducting radio frequency (SRF) accelerator cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian Hui; Ribeill, Guilhem; Xu Chen; Reece, Charles E.; Kelley, Michael J.

2011-01-01

As superconducting niobium radio-frequency (SRF) cavities approach fundamental material limits, there is increased interest in understanding the details of topographical influences on realized performance limitations. Micro- and nano-roughness are implicated in both direct geometrical field enhancements as well as complications of the composition of the 50 nm surface layer in which the super-currents typically flow. Interior surface chemical treatments such as buffered chemical polishing (BCP) and electropolishing (EP) used to remove mechanical damage leave surface topography, including pits and protrusions of varying sharpness. These may promote RF magnetic field entry, locally quenching superconductivity, so as to degrade cavity performance. A more incisive analysis of surface topography than the widely used average roughness is needed. In this study, a power spectral density (PSD) approach based on Fourier analysis of surface topography data acquired by both stylus profilometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) is introduced to distinguish the scale-dependent smoothing effects, resulting in a novel qualitative and quantitative description of Nb surface topography. The topographical evolution of the Nb surface as a function of different steps of well-controlled EP is discussed. This study will greatly help to identify optimum EP parameter sets for controlled and reproducible surface levelling of Nb for cavity production.

Superconductors made of niobium germanide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newkirk, L.R.; Valencia, F.A.

1976-01-01

This invention concerns the superconductors and particularly the mass coatings of niobium germanide (Nb 3 Ge) exhibiting superconductor properties, as well as the compositions enabling them to be obtained, having transition temperatures of around 20 0 K or more. The invention proposes a composition of a material of the general formula Nb 3 Ge, containing from around 1 to around 10 at. % oxygen. Preferably, the material contains around 5 at. % of oxygen. The invention also proposes fabricated articles in which the compositions described above are associated with and joined to a metallic substrate. Hence, for instance, the present studies involving a superconducting power transmission line for direct current make it possible to envisage the use of conductors placed in a double envelope, enabling the superconducting element transmitting the current to be carried, whilst containing the cryogenic coolant. In this type of design, the coat of superconducting material surrounds a tube containing liquid helium or possibly liquid hydrogen if a sufficiently high superconduction transition temperature can be reached. The tube must be a good heat and electricity conductor in order to achieve good stability of the superconducting coating [fr

Variation of Mechanical Properties of High RRR And Reactor Grade Niobium With Heat Treatments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ganapati Myneni; H. Umezawa

2003-06-01

Superconducting rf cavities used as accelerating structures in particle accelerators are made from high purity niobium with residual resistance ratios greater than 250. Reactor grade niobium is also used to make wave-guide and/or end group components for these accelerating structures. The major impurities in this type of niobium are interstitially dissolved gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen in addition to carbon. After fabricating the niobium accelerating structures, they are subjected to heat treatments for several hours in vacuum at temperatures of up to 900 C for degassing hydrogen or up to 1400 C for improving the thermal conductivity of niobium considerably. These heat treatments are affecting the mechanical properties of niobium drastically. In this paper the variation of the mechanical properties of high purity and reactor grade niobium with heat treatments in a vacuum of {approx} 10{sup -6} Torr and temperatures from 600 C to 1250 C for periods of 10 to 6 hours are presented.

Baking effect on Niobium superconducting RF cavities and its physical interpretation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saito, K. [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Kneisel, P. [Thomas Jefferson Accelerator Facility, VA, (United States)

2000-07-01

Recently a very surprising phenomenon has been discovered at JLab and Saclay with chemically polished niobium cavities, which the baking during vacuum evacuation has benefits to improve the cavity performance: high Q and high gradient. We have confirmed the same effect on the electropolished niobium cavities. We have analyzed the temperature dependence of the surface resistance in order to understand this effect in the frame or BCS theory. In this paper these results will be presented. (author)

Metabolic and environmental aspects of fusion reactor activation products: niobium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Easterly, C.E.; Shank, K.E.

1977-11-01

A summary of the metabolic and environmental aspects of niobium is presented. The toxicological symptoms from exposure to niobium are given, along with lethal concentration values for acute and chronic exposures. Existing human data are presented; animal uptake and retention data are analyzed for various routes of administration. Recommended metabolic values are also presented along with comments concerning their use and appropriateness. The natural distribution of niobium is given for freshwater, seawater, and the biosphere. Concentration factors and retention of /sup 95/Nb in the environment are discussed with reference to: plant retention via leaf absorption; plant retention via root uptake; uptake in terrestrial animals from plants; uptake in freshwater organisms; uptake in marine organisms; and movement in soil. Conclusions are drawn regarding needs for future work in these areas. This review was undertaken because niobium is expected to be a key metal in the development of commercial fusion reactors. It is recognized that niobium will likely not be used in the first generation reactors as a structural material but will appear as an alloy in such materials as superconducting wire.

Metabolic and environmental aspects of fusion reactor activation products: niobium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Easterly, C.E.; Shank, K.E.

1977-11-01

A summary of the metabolic and environmental aspects of niobium is presented. The toxicological symptoms from exposure to niobium are given, along with lethal concentration values for acute and chronic exposures. Existing human data are presented; animal uptake and retention data are analyzed for various routes of administration. Recommended metabolic values are also presented along with comments concerning their use and appropriateness. The natural distribution of niobium is given for freshwater, seawater, and the biosphere. Concentration factors and retention of 95 Nb in the environment are discussed with reference to: plant retention via leaf absorption; plant retention via root uptake; uptake in terrestrial animals from plants; uptake in freshwater organisms; uptake in marine organisms; and movement in soil. Conclusions are drawn regarding needs for future work in these areas. This review was undertaken because niobium is expected to be a key metal in the development of commercial fusion reactors. It is recognized that niobium will likely not be used in the first generation reactors as a structural material but will appear as an alloy in such materials as superconducting wire

Terahertz Mixing Characteristics of NbN Superconducting Tunnel Junctions and Related Astronomical Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, J.

2010-01-01

High-sensitivity superconducting SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) mixers are playing an increasingly important role in the terahertz (THz) astronomical observation, which is an emerging research frontier in modern astrophysics. Superconducting SIS mixers with niobium (Nb) tunnel junctions have reached a sensitivity close to the quantum limit, but have a frequency limit about 0.7 THz (i.e., gap frequency of Nb tunnel junctions). Beyond this frequency Nb superconducting films will absorb energetic photons (i.e., energy loss) to break Cooper pairs, thereby resulting in significant degradation of the mixer performance. Therefore, it is of particular interest to develop THz superconducting SIS mixers incorporating tunnel junctions with a larger energy gap. Niobium-nitride (NbN) superconducting tunnel junctions have been long known for their large energy gap, almost double that of Nb ones. With the introduction of epitaxially grown NbN films, the fabrication technology of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions has been considerably improved in the recent years. Nevertheless, their performances are still not as good as Nb ones, and furthermore they are not yet demonstrated in real astronomical applications. Given the facts mentioned above, in this paper we systematically study the quantum mixing behaviors of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions in the THz regime and demonstrate an astronomical testing observation with a 0.5 THz superconducting SIS mixer developed with NbN tunnel junctions. The main results of this study include: (1) successful design and fabrication of a 0.4˜0.6 THz waveguide mixing circuit with the high-dielectric-constant MgO substrate; (2) successful fabrication of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions with the gap voltage reaching 5.6 mV and the quality factor as high as 15; (3) demonstration of a 0.5 THz waveguide NbN superconducting SIS mixer with a measured receiver noise temperature (no correction) as low as five times the quantum limit

Pulsed laser deposition of high Tc superconducting thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, R.K.; Narayan, J.

1990-01-01

This paper reports on the pulsed laser evaporation (PLE) technique for deposition of thin films characterized by a number of unique properties. Based on the experimental characteristics, a theoretical model is developed which considers the formation and anisotropic three dimensional expansion of the laser generated plasma. This model explains most of the experimental features observed in PLE. We have also employed the PLE technique for in-situ fabrication of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 superconducting thin films on different substrates in the temperature range of 500--650 degrees C. At temperatures below 600 degrees C, a biased interposing ring between the substrate and the target was found to significantly improve the superconducting properties. The minimum ion channeling yields were between 3--3.5% for films deposited on (100) SrTiO 3 and (100) LaAlO 3 substrates

Review of thin film superconductivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kihlstrom, K.E.

1989-01-01

Advances in thin film superconductivity are critical to the success of many proposed applications. The authors review several of the prominent techniques currently used to produce thin films of the high temperature superconductors including electron beam co-deposition, sputtering (both multiple and composite source configurations) and laser ablation. The authors look at the relevant parameters for each and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each technique. In addition, promising work on in situ oxidation is discussed. Also addressed are efforts to find optimum substrate materials and substrate buffer layers for various applications. The current state of the art for T c , J c and H c2 is presented for the yttrium, bismuth, and thallium compounds

Progress in thin film techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weingarten, W.

1996-01-01

Progress since the last Workshop is reported on superconducting accelerating RF cavities coated with thin films. The materials investigated are Nb, Nb 3 Sn, NbN and NbTiN, the techniques applied are diffusion from the vapour phase (Nb 3 Sn, NbN), the bronze process (Nb 3 Sn), and sputter deposition on a copper substrate (Nb, NbTiN). Specially designed cavities for sample evaluation by RF methods have been developed (triaxial cavity). New experimental techniques to assess the RF amplitude dependence of the surface resistance are presented (with emphasis on niobium films sputter deposited on copper). Evidence is increasing that they are caused by magnetic flux penetration into the surface layer. (R.P.)

Ga lithography in sputtered niobium for superconductive micro and nanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henry, M. David; Wolfley, Steve; Monson, Todd; Lewis, Rupert

2014-01-01

This work demonstrates the use of focused ion beam (FIB) implanted Ga as a lithographic mask for plasma etching of Nb films. Using a highly collimated Ga beam of a FIB, Nb is implanted 12 nm deep with a 14 nm thick Ga layer providing etch selectivity better than 15:1 with fluorine based etch chemistry. Implanted square test patterns, both 10 μm by 10 μm and 100 μm by 100 μm, demonstrate that doses above than 7.5 × 10 15  cm −2 at 30 kV provide adequate mask protection for a 205 nm thick, sputtered Nb film. The resolution of this dry lithographic technique is demonstrated by fabrication of nanowires 75 nm wide by 10 μm long connected to 50 μm wide contact pads. The residual resistance ratio of patterned Nb films was 3. The superconducting transition temperature (T c ) = 7.7 K was measured using a magnetic properties measurement system. This nanoscale, dry lithographic technique was extended to sputtered TiN and Ta here and could be used on other fluorine etched superconductors such as NbN, NbSi, and NbTi.

Aging of the HF-H2SO4 electrolyte used for the electropolishing of niobium superconducting radio frequency cavities: Origins and cure

Science.gov (United States)

Eozénou, F.; Berry, S.; Antoine, C.; Gasser, Y.; Charrier, J.-P.; Malki, B.

2010-08-01

Electropolishing (EP) in the HF-H2SO4 electrolyte is the most desirable surface treatment for niobium superconducting radio frequency cavities yet demonstrated, in terms of performance and surface finish. However, the efficiency of the electrolyte declines quickly with time (decrease in removal rate, deterioration of the niobium surface, increased sulfur generation). Previous studies at CEA Saclay have highlighted the impact of the water content in EP mixtures rather than the content of dissolved niobium. Knowledge of the electrochemical system was improved thanks to studies using a rotating disk electrode (RDE). Measurements with a RDE give precious information concerning mass transport of the different ionic groups present in the solution. The performed measurements prove that EP is controlled by the diffusion of fluorine ions and the value of the related diffusion coefficient DF- was estimated for different mixtures. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were also performed with different EP mixtures. Both volt ampere metric and EIS measurements prove the central role of fluorine during EP and show that EP mechanisms evolve with the aging of the bath. Another major problem related to electrolytes is the formation of impurities such as sulfur. We have proved that working at a reduced voltage of 5 V does not alter cavity performance and makes it possible to reduce the undesirable particulate contamination in electrolytes and to increase their lifetime.

Aging of the HF-H_{2}SO_{4} electrolyte used for the electropolishing of niobium superconducting radio frequency cavities: Origins and cure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Eozénou

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Electropolishing (EP in the HF-H_{2}SO_{4} electrolyte is the most desirable surface treatment for niobium superconducting radio frequency cavities yet demonstrated, in terms of performance and surface finish. However, the efficiency of the electrolyte declines quickly with time (decrease in removal rate, deterioration of the niobium surface, increased sulfur generation. Previous studies at CEA Saclay have highlighted the impact of the water content in EP mixtures rather than the content of dissolved niobium. Knowledge of the electrochemical system was improved thanks to studies using a rotating disk electrode (RDE. Measurements with a RDE give precious information concerning mass transport of the different ionic groups present in the solution. The performed measurements prove that EP is controlled by the diffusion of fluorine ions and the value of the related diffusion coefficient D_{F-} was estimated for different mixtures. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS measurements were also performed with different EP mixtures. Both volt ampere metric and EIS measurements prove the central role of fluorine during EP and show that EP mechanisms evolve with the aging of the bath. Another major problem related to electrolytes is the formation of impurities such as sulfur. We have proved that working at a reduced voltage of 5 V does not alter cavity performance and makes it possible to reduce the undesirable particulate contamination in electrolytes and to increase their lifetime.

Superconducting films of YBaCuO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coelho, A.L.

1991-01-01

Thick films of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 - x have been prepared on alumina and YSZ (Yttria-stabilized zirconia) substrates by the screen printing technique. Several experimental conditions have been studied, for instance: sintering time, temperature, thickness and atmosphere annealed. The resulting films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, AC electrical resistance, AC susceptibility and scanning electron microscopy. The surface and cross-section have been observed with an optical microscope. The X-ray diffraction patterns have been compared with a typical pattern and that has indicated the good quality of the samples. AC resistance and its temperature dependence have been measured in the standard four-probe configuration. Films thickness has been estimated in the scanning electron microscope. This technique has been suitable for production of high T c superconducting films being a simple and inexpensive method. (author)

Generation of coherent electromagnetic radiation by superconducting films at nitrogen temperatures

CERN Document Server

Lykov, A N

2001-01-01

One detected generation of coherent electromagnetic radiation by GdBa sub 2 Cu sub 3 O sub 7 sub - sub x superconducting films within 1-10 MHz range at temperature of liquid nitrogen boiling. This type generation is caused by synchronization realized due to the feedback of abrupt changes of the Abrikosov's vortices produced by the external low-frequency magnetic field. Possibility to reach more intensive radiation due to increase of the area of superconducting film, as well as, via increase of amplitude and of frequency of electromagnetic field exciting a vortex system in films is the most important advantage of the given technique of generation

Preparation of YBCO superconducting films by spray pyrolysis method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mora Alonso, M.; Leyva Fabelo, A.; Rubio Frias, E.; Pupo Gonzalez, I.; Lopez Sanchez, D.

1994-01-01

The methodology for the preparation of YBCO superconducting films on Zr 2O (Y) substrates by spray pyrolysis method is reported. The transition temperature of these films is superior than the boiling temperature of liquid 2N . Other critical parameters are similar to those reported by other authors using the same technique

Pulsed laser deposition and characterisation of thin superconducting films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morone, A [CNR, zona industriale di Tito Scalo, Potenza (Italy). Istituto per i Materiali Speciali

1996-09-01

Same concepts on pulsed laser deposition of thin films will be discussed and same examples of high transition temperature (HTc) BiSrCaCuO (BISCO) and low transition temperature NbN/MgO/NbN multilayers will be presented. X-ray and others characterizations of these films will be reported and discussed. Electrical properties of superconducting thin films will be realized as a function of structural and morphological aspect.

Microwave Josephson generation in thin film superconducting bridges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gubankov, V.N.; Koshelets, V.P.; Ovsyannikov, G.A.

1975-01-01

Thin-film bridges have some advantage over other types of superconducting weak links: good definition of electromagnetic parameters and of weak region geometry. Up to now Josephson properties of bridges have been investigated by using indirect methods (the effect of magnetic field on the critical current I 0 , the bridge behavior in a microwave field, etc.). Direct experimental observation of Josephson radiation from autonomous thin film bridges is reported. Microwave radiation in tin bridges of 'variable' thickness has been investigated where the thickness of the film forming the bridge is far less than the thickness of the bank films. (Auth.)

YBa2Cu3O(7-x) based superconducting thin films by multitarget sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bouteloup, E.; Mercey, B.; Poullain, G.; Brousse, T.; Murray, H.; Raveau, B.

1990-01-01

This paper reports a new technique to prepare superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 O (7-x) thin films. The multitarget sputtering apparatus described below allows the simultaneous and reproducible production of numerous films with a metallic composition close to Y 17% Ba 33% Cu 50% . Superconducting films (R = 0) at 80 K have been produced on polycrystalline zirconia substrates after a high temperature annealing [fr

Stable superconducting magnet. [high current levels below critical temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Boom, R. W. (Inventor)

1967-01-01

Operation of a superconducting magnet is considered. A method is described for; (1) obtaining a relatively high current in a superconducting magnet positioned in a bath of a gas refrigerant; (2) operating a superconducting magnet at a relatively high current level without training; and (3) operating a superconducting magnet containing a plurality of turns of a niobium zirconium wire at a relatively high current level without training.

Construction of a superconducting RFQ structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, K.W.; Kennedy, W.L.; Crandall, K.R.

1993-01-01

This paper reports the design and construction status of a niobium superconducting RFQ operating at 194 MHz. The structure is of the rod and post type, novel in that each of four rods is supported by two posts oriented radially with respect to the beam axis. Although the geometry has four-fold rotation symmetry, the dipole-quadrupole mode splitting is large, giving good mechanical tolerances. The simplicity of the geometry enables designing for good mechanical stability while minimizing tooling costs for fabrication with niobium. Design details of a prototype niobium resonator, results of measurements on room temperature models, and construction status are discussed

Construction of a superconducting RFQ structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shepard, K.W.; Kennedy, W.L. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States); Crandall, K.R. [AccSys Technology, Inc., Pleasanton, CA (United States)

1993-07-01

This paper reports the design and construction status of a niobium superconducting RFQ operating at 194 MHz. The structure is of the rod and post type, novel in that each of four rods is supported by two posts oriented radially with respect to the beam axis. Although the geometry has four-fold rotation symmetry, the dipole-quadrupole mode splitting is large, giving good mechanical tolerances. The simplicity of the geometry enables designing for good mechanical stability while minimizing tooling costs for fabrication with niobium. Design details of a prototype niobium resonator, results of measurements on room temperature models, and construction status are discussed.

Split ring resonator for the Argonne superconducting heavy ion booster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, K.W.; Scheibelhut, C.H.; Benaroya, R.; Bollinger, L.M.

1977-01-01

A split-ring resonator for use in the ANL superconducting heavy-ion linac was constructed and is being tested. The electromagnetic characteristics of the 98-MHz device are the same as the unit described earlier, but the housing is formed of a new material consisting of niobium sheet explosively bonded to copper. The niobium provides the superconducting path and the copper conducts heat to a small area cooled by liquid helium. This arrangement greatly simplified the cryogenic system. Fabrication of the housing was relatively simple, with the result that costs have been reduced substantially. The mechanical stability of the resonator and the performance of the demountable superconducting joints are significantly better than for the earlier unit

Split ring resonator for the Argonne superconducting heavy ion booster

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shepard, K.W.; Scheibelhut, C.H.; Benaroya, R.; Bollinger, L.M.

1977-01-01

A split-ring resonator for use in the ANL superconducting heavy-ion linac was constructed and is being tested. The electromagnetic characteristics of the 98-MHz device are the same as the unit described earlier, but the housing is formed of a new material consisting of niobium sheet explosively bonded to copper. The niobium provides the superconducting path and the copper conducts heat to a small area cooled by liquid helium. This arrangement greatly simplified the cryogenic system. Fabrication of the housing was relatively simple, with the result that costs have been reduced substantially. The mechanical stability of the resonator and the performance of the demountable superconducting joints are significantly better than for the earlier unit.

A novel selenization technique for fabrication of superconducting FeSex thin film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chai Qinglin; Tu Hailing; Hua Zhiqiang; Wang Lei; Qu Fei

2011-01-01

A novel selenization technique was applied to prepare superconducting FeSe x films with pre-set FeS films. The combination of reactive sputtering deposition with elemental diffusion technique would extend to prepare films of other iron-based superconductors. The results of transport measurement got close or greater than that of previous reports. T c,onset and T c,0 got to 10.2 K and 4 K respectively. We believe that increase of the content of Fe 7 Se 8 could not only reduce T c but also slow down the decline of resistivity. A combinative method with reactive sputtering deposition and selenization technique was applied to prepare superconducting FeSe x films on LaAlO 3 substrates successfully. The influence of selenizing temperature on film components was studied. FeSe 0.96 and FeSe films had similar and good performances in transport measurement but little difference in magnetic property. The critical onset temperature got to 11.2 K and T c,0 got to 4 K approximately. X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze the ratio of constituents and morphology of several selenized films. FeSe x film had a porous structure on surface and no well preferred orientation, which were confirmed to have little influence on superconducting properties.

Intrinsic and experimental quasiparticle recombination times in superconducting films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eisenmenger, W.; Lassmann, K.; Trumpp, H.J.; Krauss, R.

1977-01-01

Experimental quasiparticle recombination lifetime data for superconducting Al, Sn, and Pb films are compared with calculations based on a ray acoustic model taking account of the film thickness dependence of the reabsorption of recombination phonons. Information on the true or intrinsic quasiparticle recombination lifetime obtained from these and other data is discussed. (orig.) [de

Interface-Induced Zeeman-Protected Superconductivity in Ultrathin Crystalline Lead Films

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yi; Wang, Ziqiao; Zhang, Xuefeng; Liu, Chaofei; Liu, Yongjie; Zhou, Zhimou; Wang, Junfeng; Wang, Qingyan; Liu, Yanzhao; Xi, Chuanying; Tian, Mingliang; Liu, Haiwen; Feng, Ji; Xie, X. C.; Wang, Jian

2018-04-01

Two-dimensional (2D) superconducting systems are of great importance for exploring exotic quantum physics. The recent development of fabrication techniques has stimulated studies of high-quality single-crystalline 2D superconductors, where intrinsic properties give rise to unprecedented physical phenomena. Here, we report the observation of Zeeman-type spin-orbit interaction protected superconductivity (Zeeman-protected superconductivity) in 4-monolayer (ML) to 6-ML crystalline Pb films grown on striped incommensurate Pb layers on Si(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. An anomalously large in-plane critical field far beyond the Pauli limit is detected, which can be attributed to the Zeeman-protected superconductivity due to the in-plane inversion symmetry breaking at the interface. Our work demonstrates that, in superconducting heterostructures, the interface can induce Zeeman-type spin-orbit interactions and modulate the superconductivity.

Impact of nitrogen doping of niobium superconducting cavities on the sensitivity of surface resistance to trapped magnetic flux

Science.gov (United States)

Gonnella, Dan; Kaufman, John; Liepe, Matthias

2016-02-01

Future particle accelerators such as the SLAC "Linac Coherent Light Source-II" (LCLS-II) and the proposed Cornell Energy Recovery Linac require hundreds of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) niobium cavities operating in continuous wave mode. In order to achieve economic feasibility of projects such as these, the cavities must achieve a very high intrinsic quality factor (Q0) to keep cryogenic losses within feasible limits. To reach these high Q0's in the case of LCLS-II, nitrogen-doping of niobium cavities has been selected as the cavity preparation technique. When dealing with Q0's greater than 1 × 1010, the effects of ambient magnetic field on Q0 become significant. Here, we show that the sensitivity to RF losses from trapped magnetic field in a cavity's walls is strongly dependent on the cavity preparation. Specifically, standard electropolished and 120 °C baked cavities show a sensitivity of residual resistance from trapped magnetic flux of ˜0.6 and ˜0.8 nΩ/mG trapped, respectively, while nitrogen-doped cavities show a higher sensitivity of residual resistance from trapped magnetic flux of ˜1 to 5 nΩ/mG trapped. We show that this difference in sensitivities is directly related to the mean free path of the RF surface layer of the niobium: shorter mean free paths lead to less sensitivity of residual resistance to trapped magnetic flux in the dirty limit (ℓ ≪ ξ0), while longer mean free paths lead to lower sensitivity of residual resistance to trapped magnetic flux in the clean limit (ℓ ≫ ξ0). These experimental results are also shown to have good agreement with recent theoretical predictions for pinned vortex lines oscillating in RF fields.

Comment on ``Ferromagnetic film on a superconducting substrate''

Science.gov (United States)

Sonin, E. B.

2002-10-01

A superconducting substrate is not able to shrink drastically domains in a ferromagnetic film, contrary to the prediction of Bulaevskii and Chudnovsky. This is shown on the basis of the exact solution for the stripe domain structure.

Study of niobium corrosion in alkaline medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almeida, S.H. de.

1987-01-01

A comparative study of niobium electrochemical behaviour in NaOH and KOH solution, with concentrations between 0,5 and 6,1M is presented. The studies were done through electrochemicals assays, consisting in the corrosion potential and anodic and cathodic polarization curves, complemented by loss of mass experiments. The niobium anodic behaviour in alkaline medium is characterized by passivation occurrence, with a stable film formation. The Na oH solution in alkaline medium are more corrosible to niobium than the KOH solution. The loss of mass assays showed that the corrosion velocit is more dependente of hydroxide concentration in KOH medium than the NaOH medium. (C.G.C.) [pt

Hall effect of K-doped superconducting thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Son, Eunseon; Lee, Nam Hoon; Kang, Won Nam [Dept. of physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon (Korea, Republic of); Hwang, Tae Jong; Kim, Dong Ho [Dept. of physics, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan(Korea, Republic of)

2013-09-15

We have studied Hall effect for potassium (K)-doped BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2}superconducting thin films by analyzing the relation between the longitudinal resistivity (ρ{sub xy}) and the Hall resistivity (ρ{sub xy}). The thin films used in this study were fabricated on Al{sub O3} (000l) substrates by using an ex-situ pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique under a high-vacuum condition of ∼10{sup -6} Torr. The samples showed the high superconducting transition temperatures (T{sub C}) of ∼40 K. The ρ{sub xx} and ρ{sub xy}the for K-doped BaFeAs{sub 2} thin films were measured by using a physical property measurement system (PPMS) with a temperature sweep (T-sweep) mode at an applied current density of 100 A/cm{sup 2} and at magnetic fields from 0 up to 9 T. We report the T-sweep results of the ρ{sub xx} and the ρ{sub xy} to investigate Hall scaling behavior on the basis of the relation of ρ{sub xy} = A(ρ{sub xy}){sup β}. The ρ{sub xx} values are 3.0 ± 0.2 in the c-axis-oriented K-doped BaFeAs{sub 2} thin films, whereas the thin films with various oriented-directions like a polycrystal showed slightly lower β than that of c-axis-oriented thin films. Interestingly, the β value is decreased with increasing magnetic fields.

Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Padamsee, Hasan S.

2014-10-01

Superconducting cavities have been operating routinely in a variety of accelerators with a range of demanding applications. With the success of completed projects, niobium cavities have become an enabling technology, offering upgrade paths for existing facilities and pushing frontier accelerators for nuclear physics, high-energy physics, materials science, and the life sciences. With continued progress in basic understanding of radio-frequency superconductivity, the performance of cavities has steadily improved to approach theoretical capabilities.

Measurement setup for the magnetic penetration depth and superfluid stiffness in thin superconducting films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fuchs, Lorenz; Brunner, Markus Christopher Paul; Schneider, Ina; Kronfeldner, Klaus; Strunk, Christoph [Institute for exp. and appl. Physics, University of Regensburg (Germany); Bousquet, Jessica; Bustarret, Etienne [Institut NEEL, Grenoble (France)

2015-07-01

A mutual inductance measurement setup has been established in order to determine the magnetic penetration depths of thin film superconductors. By measuring the variation of the mutual inductance M, the temperature dependent penetration depth can be evaluated. The setup has been characterized using thin aluminum and niobium films as a reference. Temperature dependence of λ of B-doped diamond films is determined down to 0.3 K and compared with theoretical expectations. The impact of the doping ratio B/C and film thickness on λ and T{sub c} is investigated. Correlation between the film impedance σ = σ{sub 1} - i σ{sub 2} and λ is examined.

Micropatterned superconducting film circuitry for operation in hybrid quantum devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bothner, Daniel

2013-01-01

This thesis discusses three aspects of the arduous way towards hybrid quantum systems consisting of superconducting circuits and ensembles of ultracold paramagnetic atoms. In the first part of the thesis, superconducting coplanar microwave resonators as used for quantum information processing with superconducting qubits are investigated in magnetic fields. In the second part of the thesis integrated atom chips are designed and fabricated, which offer the possibility to trap an ensemble of ultracold atoms close to a superconducting coplanar resonator on that chip. In the third and last part of the thesis, unconventional disordered and quasiperiodic arrangements of microfabricated holes (antidots) in superconducting films are patterned and investigated with respect to the impact of the arrangement on the superconductor transport properties in magnetic fields.

Superconducting TlCa2Ba2Cu3O9 thick films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

GE Corporate Research and Development's (GE-CRD) program to develop the two-zone silver addition (TZSA) process for fabricating superconducting films of TlCa 2 Ba 2 Cu 3 O 9 has activities in the areas of (1) precursor preparation, (2) the thallium oxide vapor process, (3) the effects of post-synthesis annealing ambient and temperature on superconducting properties, (4) the influence of film stoichiometry and composition on superconducting properties, (5) microstructure and film growth mechanism, (6) the preparation of thicker films, (7) the fabrication of films on flexible substrates, and (8) process scale-up. As part of its effort under the ANL Pilot Center Agreement, GE-CRD has supplied to ANL a complete two-zone furnace, has provided consultation on its use and on the planning of experiments, has processed ANL samples in GE's furnaces to help define optimum process conditions, and has provided precursor and finished films as requested. These contributions are described more fully in the descriptions of the work performed at ANL presented elsewhere in this report. Under the Pilot Center Agreement work at GE-CRD has been directed toward the optimization of the TZSA process with emphasis on (A) process improvement, (B) effects of silver content on film properties, (C) the relationship between microstructure and J c , and (D) toward the assessment of the compatibility of silver substrates with the process chemistry

Interface-Induced Zeeman-Protected Superconductivity in Ultrathin Crystalline Lead Films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi Liu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Two-dimensional (2D superconducting systems are of great importance for exploring exotic quantum physics. The recent development of fabrication techniques has stimulated studies of high-quality single-crystalline 2D superconductors, where intrinsic properties give rise to unprecedented physical phenomena. Here, we report the observation of Zeeman-type spin-orbit interaction protected superconductivity (Zeeman-protected superconductivity in 4-monolayer (ML to 6-ML crystalline Pb films grown on striped incommensurate Pb layers on Si(111 substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. An anomalously large in-plane critical field far beyond the Pauli limit is detected, which can be attributed to the Zeeman-protected superconductivity due to the in-plane inversion symmetry breaking at the interface. Our work demonstrates that, in superconducting heterostructures, the interface can induce Zeeman-type spin-orbit interactions and modulate the superconductivity.

Hydroforming SRF Three-cell Cavity from Seamless Niobium Tube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamanaka, Masashi [KEK, Tsukuba; Dohmae, Takeshi [KEK, Tsukuba; Hocker, Andy [Fermilab; Inoue, Hitoshi [KEK, Tsukuba; Park, Gunn-Tae [KEK, Tsukuba; Tajima, Tsuyoshi [Los Alamos; Umemori, Kensei [KEK, Tsukuba

2016-06-01

We are developing the manufacturing method for superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities by using a hydroforming instead of using conventional electron beam welding. We expect higher reliability and reduced cost with hydroforming. For successful hydroforming, high-purity seamless niobium tubes with good formability as well as advancing the hydroforming technique are necessary. Using a seamless niobium tube from ATI Wah Chang, we were able to successfully hydroform a 1.3 GHz three-cell TESLA-like cavity and obtained an Eacc of 32 MV/m. A barrel polishing process was omitted after the hydroforming. The vertical test was carried out with very rough inside surface. We got amazing and interesting result.

Anomalous magnetism of superconducting Mg-doped InN film

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. H. Chang

2016-02-01

Full Text Available We report on the Meissner effect of Mg-doped InN film with superconducting transition onset temperature Tc,onset of 5 K. Mg-doped InN is magnetically ordered and exhibits a simultaneous first-order magnetic and electric transition near 50 K. Its behavior is similar to that of iron-based superconductors. A strong correlation is proposed to exist between structural distortion and superconductivity when Mg is doped into InN. The suppression of magnetic ordering close to Tc by doping is further demonstrated by anisotropic magnetoresistance and M-H measurements. The findings suggest that the superconducting mechanism in the system may not be conventional BCS.

Strong Meissner screening change in superconducting radio frequency cavities due to mild baking

OpenAIRE

Romanenko, A.; Grassellino, A.; Barkov, F.; Suter, A.; Salman, Z.; Prokscha, T.

2013-01-01

We investigate "hot" regions with anomalous high field dissipation in bulk niobium superconducting radio frequency cavities for particle accelerators by using low energy muon spin rotation (LE-$\\mu$SR) on corresponding cavity cutouts. We demonstrate that superconducting properties at the hot region are well described by the non-local Pippard/BCS model for niobium in the clean limit with a London penetration depth $\\lambda_\\mathrm{L} = 23 \\pm 2$ nm. In contrast, a cutout sample from the 120$^\\...

Involvement of hydrogen-vacancy complexes in the baking effect of niobium cavities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Visentin

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Baking is necessary to improve high accelerating gradient performances of superconducting niobium cavities. Ten years after this discovery in 1998, the understanding of this effect still resists a lot of theoretical explanations. For the first time, positron annihilation spectroscopy performed on niobium samples reveals the increase after baking of positrons trapped under the Nb surface. Presence of hydrogen-vacancy complexes and their dissociation by baking could both explain rf losses observed at high fields (Q drop and its cure (baking effect.

Study into the mechanisms of hydrogen contamination of niobium as a material for superconducting radiofrequency cavities. Molecular dynamics studies for simulation of the hydrogen diffusion processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roux, B.

1993-01-01

Superconducting radiofrequency cavities were chosen for most of the future particle accelerators. In the case of pure niobium cavities, several laboratories have observed degradation of superconducting properties related to the conditions of the cooling down process. This effect seems to stem from hydrogen contamination which occurs during surface treatments. With the aim to study the influence of different surface treatments on the hydrogen contamination depth concentration profiling of the near surface region (the first 200 nm) was first carried out by the classical ERDA technique with 30 nm depth resolution. In order to better localize hydrogen, the initial particle selecting device (Teflon foil) was replaced by an electromagnetic (ExB) filter improving then the depth resolution by a factor three. This study reveals an hydrogen segregation at the niobium surface. Such a result is in contradiction with the relative high experimental value of the hydrogen diffusion coefficient given by the literature. To understand the trapping mechanism of hydrogen, a simulation by molecular dynamics of this impurity diffusion process was performed. This approach requires the knowledge of the interatomic potential. The potential parameters were fitted with static and dynamic tests. Nb-Nb interaction is based on many body potential. Nb-H is represented by two body potential. The Arrhenius diagram of the diffusion coefficient achieved by dynamic for a single crystal provides too small activation energy in comparison with experimental results. However, in presence of defects, a simulation proves a large increase of these values. It is only around 1000 K that the diffusion of hydrogen is not altered by defects. This conclusion confirms the experimental results concerning a good characteristic of superconducting cavities after thermal treatments. (orig.)

Improved superconducting magnet wire

Science.gov (United States)

Schuller, I.K.; Ketterson, J.B.

1983-08-16

This invention is directed to a superconducting tape or wire composed of alternating layers of copper and a niobium-containing superconductor such as niobium of NbTi, Nb/sub 3/Sn or Nb/sub 3/Ge. In general, each layer of the niobium-containing superconductor has a thickness in the range of about 0.05 to 1.5 times its coherence length (which for Nb/sub 3/Si is 41 A) with each copper layer having a thickness in the range of about 170 to 600 A. With the use of very thin layers of the niobium composition having a thickness within the desired range, the critical field (H/sub c/) may be increased by factors of 2 to 4. Also, the thin layers of the superconductor permit the resulting tape or wire to exhibit suitable ductility for winding on a magnet core. These compositions are also characterized by relatively high values of critical temperature and therefore will exhibit a combination of useful properties as superconductors.

Superconducting nano-striplines as quantum detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casaburi, A.; Ejrnaes, M.; Mattioli, F.; Gaggero, A.; Leoni, R.; Martucciello, N.; Pagano, S.; Ohkubo, M.; Cristiano, R.

2011-01-01

The recent progress in the nanofabrication of superconducting films opens the road toward detectors with highly improved performances. This is the case for superconducting nano-striplines where the thickness and the width are pushed down to the extreme limits to realize detectors with unprecedented sensitivity and ultra fast response time. In this way quantum detectors for single photons at telecommunication wavelengths and for macromolecules such as proteins can be realized. As is often the case in applied nanotechnology, it is a challenge to make devices with the necessary macroscopic dimensions that are needed to interface present technologies, while maintaining the performance improvements. For nano-stripline detectors, both the fast temporal response and the device sensitivity is generally degraded when the area is increased. Here, we present how such detectors can be scaled up to macroscopic dimensions without losing the performance of the nano-structured active elements by using an innovative configuration. In order to realize ultrathin superconducting film the nano-layer is growth with a careful setup of the deposition technique which guarantees high quality and thickness uniformity at the nano-scale size. The active nano-strips are defined with the state-of-the-art electron beam nanolithography to achieve a highly uniform linewidth. We present working detectors based on nano-strips with thicknesses 9–40 nm and widths of 100–1000 nm which exhibit unprecedented speed and area coverage (40 × 40 μm 2 for single photon detectors and 1 × 1 mm 2 for single molecule detectors) based on niobium nitride thus enabling practical use of this nanotechnology.

Superconducting linear accelerator system for NSC

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

59, No. 5. — journal of. November 2002 physics pp. 849–858. Superconducting linear accelerator system for NSC ... cryogenics facility, RF electronics development, facilities for fabricating niobium resonators indige- ... Prototype resonator was.

Misfit dislocations and phase transformations in high-T sub c superconducting films

CERN Document Server

Gutkin, M Y

2002-01-01

A theoretical model is suggested that describes the effects of misfit stresses on defect structures, phase content and critical transition temperature T sub c in high-T sub c superconducting films. The focus is placed on the exemplary case of YBaCuO films deposited onto LaSrAlO sub 4 substrates. It is theoretically revealed here that misfit stresses are capable of inducing phase transformations controlled by the generation of misfit dislocations in growing cuprate films. These transformations, in the framework of the suggested model, account for experimental data on the influence of the film thickness on phase content and critical temperature T sub c of superconducting cuprate films, reported in the literature. The potential role of stress-assisted phase transformations in suppression of critical current density across grain boundaries in high-T sub c superconductors is briefly discussed.

New NbCd2 Phase in Niobium-Cadmium Coating Films

Science.gov (United States)

Volodin, V. N.; Tuleushev, Yu. Zh.; Zhakanbaev, E. A.; Tsai, K. V.; Rofman, O. V.

2018-02-01

Solid solutions in the form of alloy coatings have been obtained for the first time in the Cd concentration range of 64.5% using ion-plasma sputtering and the codeposition of Nb and Cd ultrafine particles. This supports thermal fluctuation melting and the coalescence of fine particles. A coating of niobium and cadmium layers less than 2 nm thick at 68 at % Cd results in the formation of a new phase identified as NbCd2. The tetragonal fcc phase with lattice parameters a = 0.84357 nm and c = 0.54514 nm forms directly during film coating. XRD data for the identification of the intermetallic compound have been determined. The thermal stability of the NbCd 2 intermetallic compound is limited by 200°C. The properties of the synthesized NbCd 2 phase are typical of semiconductors.

Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconducting thin films: theory and experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yavuz, M [Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering Program, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Boybay, M S [Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering Program, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Elbuken, C [Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering Program, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Andrews, M J [Los Alamos National Lab, PO Box 1663, Mail Stop B 296, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Hu, C R [Department of Physics, Texas A and M University, College Station, Texas 77843 (United States); Ross, J H [Department of Physics, Texas A and M University, College Station, Texas 77843 (United States)

2006-06-01

The interest of this paper centers on fabrication and characterization and modeling of vortices in high temperature superconducting thin films. As a first step, the magnetic vertices of the superconducting matrix were modeled. As a second, Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O thin films were grown using Pulsed Laser Ablation (PLD) on single crystal MgO substrates as magnetic templates for the potential use for Nano and Microelectronic circuits, and were characterized by x-ray diffraction, electron, and atomic force microscopy. The third step (future work) will be observation and pinning of these vortices using Bitter decoration.

Niobium coaxial quarter-wave cavities for the New Delhi booster linac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, K.W.; Roy, A.; Potukuchi, P.N.

1993-01-01

This paper reports the design and construction status of a prototype superconducting niobium accelerating structure consisting of a pair of quarter-wave coaxial-line cavities which are strongly coupled with a superconducting loop. Quarter-wave resonators are two-gap accelerating structures and are relatively short, so that a large number of independently-phased cavities is required for a linac. Strongly coupling several cavities can reduce the number of independently-phased elements, but at the cost of reducing the range of useful velocity acceptance for each element. Coupling two cavities splits the accelerating rf eigenmode into two resonant modes each of which covers a portion of the full velocity acceptance range of the original single cavity mode. Using both of these resonant modes makes feasible the use of coupled cavity pairs for a linac with little loss m velocity acceptance. Design details for the niobium cavity pair and the results of preliminary tests of multipacting behavior are discussed

Niobium coaxial quarter-wave cavities for the New Delhi booster linac

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shepard, K.W. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States); Roy, A.; Potukuchi, P.N. [Nuclear Science Centre, New Delhi (India)

1993-07-01

This paper reports the design and construction status of a prototype superconducting niobium accelerating structure consisting of a pair of quarter-wave coaxial-line cavities which are strongly coupled with a superconducting loop. Quarter-wave resonators are two-gap accelerating structures and are relatively short, so that a large number of independently-phased cavities is required for a linac. Strongly coupling several cavities can reduce the number of independently-phased elements, but at the cost of reducing the range of useful velocity acceptance for each element. Coupling two cavities splits the accelerating rf eigenmode into two resonant modes each of which covers a portion of the full velocity acceptance range of the original single cavity mode. Using both of these resonant modes makes feasible the use of coupled cavity pairs for a linac with little loss m velocity acceptance. Design details for the niobium cavity pair and the results of preliminary tests of multipacting behavior are discussed.

Niobium and tantalum

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, Klaus J.; Piatak, Nadine M.; Papp, John F.; Schulz, Klaus J.; DeYoung,, John H.; Seal, Robert R.; Bradley, Dwight C.

2017-12-19

inertness of niobium and tantalum, human and ecological health concerns are generally minimal under most natural conditions.Demand for both niobium and tantalum is expected to increase as the world economy continues to recover from the downturn that began in 2008. Increased demand for niobium is linked to increased consumption of microalloyed steel, which is used in the manufacture of cars, buildings, ships, and refinery equipment. Demand for these steels will likely increase with continued economic development in such countries as Brazil, China, and India. In addition, increased global demand for cars, cell phones, computers, superconducting magnets, and other high-tech devices will likely spur increased demand for both niobium and tantalum. The estimated global reserves and resources of niobium and tantalum are large and appear more than sufficient to meet global demand for the foreseeable future, possibly the next 500 years. The sale of “conflict coltan” attributed to rebel forces waging a civil war in Congo (Kinshasa) has been of recent concern and has highlighted the need for a transparent and traceable global supply chain that can exclude illegal columbite-tantalite from the conventional market while discerning legitimate artisanal mine production in central Africa.

Superconducting niobium in high rf magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, G.

1988-01-01

The benefit of superconducting cavities for accelerator applications depends on the field and Q/sub 0/ levels which can be achieved reliably in mass producible multicell accelerating structures. The presently observed field and Q/sub 0/ limitations are caused by anomalous loss mechanisms which are not correlated with the intrinsic properties of the pure superconductor but rather due to defects or contaminants on the superconducting surface. The ultimate performance levels of clean superconducting cavities built from pure Nb will be given by the rf critical field and the surface resistance of the superconductor. In the first part of this paper a short survey is given of the maximum surface magnetic fields achieved in single-cell cavities. The results of model calculations for the thermal breakdown induced by very small defects and for the transition to the defect free case is discussed in part 2. In the last chapter, a discussion is given for the rf critical field of Nb on the basis of the Ginzburg-Landau Theory. It is shown that not only purity but also the homogeneity of the material should become important for the performance of superconducting Nb cavities at field levels beyond 100mT. Measurement results of the upper critical field for different grades of commercially available Nb sheet materials are given. 58 references, 20 figures, 1 table

Electrical and thermal properties of niobium-base cermets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skidan, B.S.; Vlasov, A.S.; Alekseev, V.A.; Myl'nikova, T.S.; Ryzhkov, Yu.F.

1979-01-01

Behaviour of corundum-niobium cermets containing 16-70 vol.% metal was studied at low temperatures. It is found that the given materials are superconductors with Tsub(k) 6-7 K but their resistivity before their transfer into superconducting state is determined by the metal concentration and is found within 10 -2 -10 -4 Ohm. cm. The cermet heat conductivity is found to increase with the metal content

Recent progress in large grain/single crystal high RRR niobium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapati Rao Myneni; Peter Kneisel; Tadeu Carneiro; S.R. Agnew; F. Stevie

2005-01-01

High RRR bulk niobium Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavity technology is chosen for the International Linear Collider (ILC). The SRF community was convinced until now that fine grain polycrystalline RRR niobium sheets obtained via forging and cross rolling are essential for forming the SRF Cavities. However, it was recently discovered under a joint Reference Metals Company, Inc., - JLAB CRADA that large grain/single crystal RRR niobium sliced directly from ingots is highly ductile reaching 100 percent elongation. This discovery led to the successful fabrication of several SRF single and/or multi cell structures, formed with sliced RRR discs from the ingots, operating at 2.3, 1.5 and 1.3 GHz. This new exciting development is expected to offer high performance accelerator structures not only at reduced costs but also with simpler fabrication and processing conditions. As a result there is a renewed interest in the evaluation and understanding of the large grain and single crystal niobium with respect to their mechanical and physical properties as well as the oxidation behavior and the influence of impurities such as hydrogen and Ta. In this paper the results of many collaborative studies on large grain and single crystal high RRR niobium between JLAB, Universities and Industry are presented

Prototype 350 MHz niobium spoke-loaded cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delayen, J. R.; Kedzie, M.; Mammosser, J.; Piller, C.; Shepard, K. W.

1999-01-01

This paper reports the development of 350 MHz superconducting cavities of a spoke-loaded geometry, intended for the velocity range 0.2 < v/c < 0.6. Two prototype single-cell cavities have been designed, one optimized for velocity v/c = 0.4, and the other for v/c = 0.29. Construction of the prototype niobium cavities is nearly complete. Details of the design and construction are discussed, along with the results of cold tests

Prototype 350 MHz niobium spoke-loaded cavities.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Delayen, J. R.; Kedzie, M.; Mammosser, J.; Piller, C.; Shepard, K. W.

1999-05-10

This paper reports the development of 350 MHz superconducting cavities of a spoke-loaded geometry, intended for the velocity range 0.2 < v/c < 0.6. Two prototype single-cell cavities have been designed, one optimized for velocity v/c = 0.4, and the other for v/c = 0.29. Construction of the prototype niobium cavities is nearly complete. Details of the design and construction are discussed, along with the results of cold tests.

Effect of non-uniform surface resistance on the quality factor of superconducting niobium cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Weiwei; Lu, Xiangyang; Yang, Ziqin; Zhao, Jifei; Yang, Deyu; Yang, Yujia

2016-08-01

The formula Rs = G /Q0 is commonly used in the calculation of the surface resistance of radio frequency niobium superconducting cavities. The applying of such equation is under the assumption that surface resistance is consistent over the cavity. However, the distribution of the magnetic field varies over the cavity. The magnetic field in the equator is much higher than that in the iris. According to Thermal Feedback Theory, it leads non-uniform distribution of the density of heat flux, which results in a different temperature distribution along the cavity inter surface. The BCS surface resistance, which depends largely on the temperature, is different in each local inner surface. In this paper, the effect of surface non-uniform resistance on the quality factor has been studied, through the calculation of Q0 in the original definition of it. The results show that it is necessary to consider the non-uniform distribution of magnetic field when the accelerating field is above 20 MV/m for TESLA cavities. Also, the effect of inhomogeneity of residual resistance on the quality factor is discussed. Its distribution barely affects the quality factor.

Ultrathin NbN film superconducting single-photon detector array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smirnov, K; Korneev, A; Minaeva, O; Divochiy, A; Tarkhov, M; Ryabchun, S; Seleznev, V; Kaurova, N; Voronov, B; Gol'tsman, G; Polonsky, S

2007-01-01

We report on the fabrication process of the 2 x 2 superconducting single-photon detector (SSPD) array. The SSPD array is made from ultrathin NbN film and is operated at liquid helium temperatures. Each detector is a nanowire-based structure patterned by electron beam lithography process. The advances in fabrication technology allowed us to produce highly uniform strips and preserve superconducting properties of the unpatterned film. SSPD exhibit up to 30% quantum efficiency in near infrared and up to 1% at 5-μm wavelength. Due to 120 MHz counting rate and 18 ps jitter, the time-domain multiplexing read-out is proposed for large scale SSPD arrays. Single-pixel SSPD has already found a practical application in non-invasive testing of semiconductor very-large scale integrated circuits. The SSPD significantly outperformed traditional single-photon counting avalanche diodes

Study of low energy thermal constraints for a copper-plated niobium structure carried out by thermal projection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gassot, H.; Durante, M.; Thiebault, A.; Vernay, E.

1999-06-01

In the framework of T.T.F. (Tesla Test Facility), the international collaboration on research and development of superconducting cavities, a study of a new method of manufacturing cavities was launched, which consists in deposing a metal (copper) or an alloy by thermal projection on niobium cavities in order to stiffen them. Analytical and numerical calculations showed that when cooled this bi-material cavities behave very differently in comparison with classical pure niobium cavities and strong thermal constraints do occur in niobium as well as in copper. These strong constraints may have important consequences upon the functioning of superconducting cavities. In addition these constraints may induce in time cracks in materials and interfaces. In this paper an experiment for measuring constraints at the temperature of cavity operation, i.e., at the liquid helium temperature, is proposed in order to compare the measured constraints with the calculated constraints. The sample studied has a cylindrical shape, rather representative for the geometrical shape of cavities, but easier to handle than a prototype cavity. The experimental approach consists in carrying out two deformation measurements. The first one, is done on single material sample (niobium and copper) to establish the laws of compensation of the constraint gauges as a function of temperature. The other measurement establishes the global deformations of a bi-metallic tube (Nb-Cu) when the interior surface (niobium) and the external surface (porous copper) of the tube are cooled. From these deformation data the thermal constraints of the bi-metallic tube at low temperature have been derived. The implementation of the entire setup of the methods of measuring the constraints at low temperature constitutes a new development in the field of superconducting cavities. The experiments have also indicated certain further developments which should be achieved if the plastic deformations induced by the freezing regime

Structure and superconducting properties of Nb-Zr alloy films made by a high-rate sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sekine, Hisashi; Inoue, Kiyoshi; Tachikawa, Kyoji

1978-01-01

Superconducting Nb-Zr alloy films have been prepared by a continuous high-rate sputtering on tantalum substrates. A deposition rate of 330 nm/min has been attained. The compositional profile in the Nb-Zr film is quite uniform and the film has nearly the same composition as that of the target. The films deposited in a pure argon atmosphere show a columnar structure grown perpendicular to the substrate. The grain size strongly depends on the substrate temperature. The phase transformations in the Nb-Zr film become more apparent and the structure becomes closer to the equilibrium state as the film is deposited in higher atmosphere pressures and/or at lower target voltages. The superconducting transition temperature T sub(c) of the films is about the same as that of bulk samples. The dependence of T sub(c) on the substrate temperature is explainable on the phase transformations in the film. Critical current density J sub(c) and its anisotropy is closely related to the grain structure of the film. Grain boundaries seem to act as the most predominant flux pinning centers in the films. Effects of oxygen in the sputtering atmosphere on the structure and superconducting properties of the Nb-Zr films have been also investigated. Oxygen significantly decreases the grain size of the film. Oxygen increases J sub(c) but decreases T sub(c) of the film. (auth.)

Studies of the Superconducting Transition in the Mo/Au-Bilayer Thin Films

Science.gov (United States)

Sadleir, John; Smith, Stephen; Iyomoto, naoko; Bandler, Simon; Chervenak, Jay; Brown, Ari; Brekowsky, Regis; Kilbourne, Caroline; Robinson, Ian

2007-01-01

At NASA Goddard, microcalorimeter arrays using superconducting transition edge sensor thermometers (TESs) are under development for high energy resolution X-ray astrophysics applications. We report on our studies of the superconducting transition in our Mo/Au-bilayer TES films including: low current measurements of the superconducting bilayer's resistance transition versus temperature on pixels with different normal metal absorber attachment designs and measured temperature scaling of the critical current and critical magnetic field.

Microwave effective surface impedance of structures including a high-Tc superconducting film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartemann, P.

1992-01-01

The microwave effective surface impedances of different stacks made of high-temperature superconducting films, dielectric materials and bulk normal metals were computed. The calculations were based on the two-fluid model of superconductors and the conventional transmission line theory. These effective impedances are compared to the calculated intrinsic surface impedances of the stacked superconducting films. The considered superconducting material has been the oxide YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 epitaxially grown on crystalline substrates (MgO, LaAlO 3 , SrTiO 3 ), the film thickness ranging from a few nm to 1μm. Discrepancies between the effective surface resistances or reactances and the corresponding intrinsic values were determined at 10 GHz for non resonant or resonant structures. At resonance the surface resistance discrepancy exhibits a sharp peak which reaches 10 4 or more in relative value according to the geometry and the used materials. Obviously the effective surface reactance shows also huge variations about the resonance and may be negative. Moreover geometries allowing to obtain an effective resistance smaller than the film intrinsic value have been found. The effects of the resonance phenomenon on the electromagnetic wave reflectivity and reflection phase shift are investigated. Therefore the reported theoretical results demonstrate that the effective surface impedance of YBCO films with a thickness smaller than 500 nm can be very different from the intrinsic film impedance according to the structures. (Author). 3 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs

Lead-doped electron-beam-deposited Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconducting thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agnihotry, S.A.; Saini, K.K.; Kant, C.; Sharma, C.P.; Ekbote, S.N.; Asthana, P.; Nagpal, K.C.; Chandra, S. (National Physical Lab., New Delhi (India))

1991-03-20

Superconducting thin films of the lead-doped Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system have been prepared on (100) single-crystal SrTiO{sub 3} substrates by an electron beam deposition technique using a single sintered pellet as the evaporation source. As-deposited films are amorphous and non-superconducting; post-deposition annealing at an optimized temperature in air has been found to result in crystalline and superconducting films. The superconducting characteristics of the films have been observed to be sensitive not only to the duration and temperature of post-deposition annealing but also to the lead content and the sintering parameters for the pellet to be used as the evaporation source. A pellet with nominal composition Bi{sub 3}Pb{sub 1}Sr{sub 3}Ca{sub 3}Cu{sub 4}O{sub y} that had been sintered for 200 h zero resistivity Tc{sup 0}=112 K. However, films deposited using such a pellet as the evaporation source had Tc{sup 0} {approx equal} 73-78 K, as had the films deposited from a pellet without any lead. We investigated systematically films deposited from pellets with more lead and sintered for different durations. It is evident from these investigations that pellets with nominal composition Bi{sub 3}Pb{sub 2}Sr{sub 3}Ca{sub 3}Cu{sub 4}O{sub y}, i.e. with an excess of lead, and sintered for about 75 h when used as the evaporation source yield films with Tc{sup 0} {approx equal} 100 K when annealed between 835 and 840deg C for an optimized long duration. The films are characterized by X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy techniques and have been found to be highly c axis oriented. The effect of lead in promoting a high Tc{sup 0}=110 K phase seems to be similar to that in bulk ceramics. (orig.).

Thermal coupling effect on the vortex dynamics of superconducting thin films: time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Ze; Yong, Huadong; Zhou, Youhe

2018-05-01

In this paper, vortex dynamics of superconducting thin films are numerically investigated by the generalized time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau (TDGL) theory. Interactions between vortex motion and the motion induced energy dissipation is considered by solving the coupled TDGL equation and the heat diffusion equation. It is found that thermal coupling has significant effects on the vortex dynamics of superconducting thin films. Branching in the vortex penetration path originates from the coupling between vortex motion and the motion induced energy dissipation. In addition, the environment temperature, the magnetic field ramp rate and the geometry of the superconducting film also greatly influence the vortex dynamic behaviors. Our results provide new insights into the dynamics of superconducting vortices, and give a mesoscopic understanding on the channeling and branching of vortex penetration paths during flux avalanches.

Critical currents in multilayered superconducting films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raffy, Helene

1977-01-01

The superconducting critical currents Isub(c) were measured as a function of magnetic field H and temperature T, on multilayered films. These films consist of alternating layers of two different superconductors S 1 and S 2 being a weaker superconductor acting as a flux pinning barrier region. A strong anisotropy was observed between the two situations where the magnetic field H is applied parallel or perpendicular to the layers. In the case discussed, there is a peak effect in the curves Isub(c)H well defined at the highest temperatures, and disappearing at low temperatures. The anisotropy of the critical current at constant field presents a maximum at a temperature T* close to the critical temperature Tsub(c 2 ) of S 2 [fr

LHC superconducting strand

CERN Multimedia

Patrice Loiez

1999-01-01

This cross-section through a strand of superconducting matieral as used in the LHC shows the 8000 Niobium-Titanium filaments embedded like a honeycomb in copper. When cooled to 1.9 degrees above absolute zero in the LHC accelerator, these filaments will have zero resistance and so will carry a high electric current with no energy loss.

ROUGHNESS ANALYSIS OF VARIOUSLY POLISHED NIOBIUM SURFACES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ribeill, G.; Reece, C.

2008-01-01

Niobium superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities have gained widespread use in accelerator systems. It has been shown that surface roughness is a determining factor in the cavities’ effi ciency and maximum accelerating potential achievable through this technology. Irregularities in the surface can lead to spot heating, undesirable local electrical fi eld enhancement and electron multipacting. Surface quality is typically ensured through the use of acid etching in a Buffered Chemical Polish (BCP) bath and electropolishing (EP). In this study, the effects of these techniques on surface morphology have been investigated in depth. The surface of niobium samples polished using different combinations of these techniques has been characterized through atomic force microscopy (AFM) and stylus profi lometry across a range of length scales. The surface morphology was analyzed using spectral techniques to determine roughness and characteristic dimensions. Experimentation has shown that this method is a valuable tool that provides quantitative information about surface roughness at different length scales. It has demonstrated that light BCP pretreatment and lower electrolyte temperature favors a smoother electropolish. These results will allow for the design of a superior polishing process for niobium SRF cavities and therefore increased accelerator operating effi ciency and power.

Surface ferromagnetism and superconducting properties of nanocrystalline niobium nitride

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shipra, R.; Kumar, Nitesh; Sundaresan, A.

2013-01-01

Nanocrystalline δ-NbN x samples have been synthesized by reacting NbCl 5 and urea at three different temperatures. A comparison of their structural, magnetic, transport and thermal properties is reported in the present study. The size of the particles and their agglomeration extent increase with increasing reaction temperature. The sample prepared at 900 °C showed the highest superconducting transition temperature (T c ) of 16.2 K with a transition width, ∼1.8 K, as obtained from the resistivity measurement on cold-pressed bars. Above T c , magnetization measurements revealed the presence of surface ferromagnetism which coexists with superconductivity below T c . Heat capacity measurements confirm superconductivity with strong electron–phonon coupling constant. The sample prepared at 800 °C shows a lower T c (10 K) while that prepared at 700 °C exhibit no superconductivity down to the lowest temperature (3 K) measured. - Highlights: ► Synthesis of δ-NbN nanoparticles by urea nitridation of NbCl 5 . ► Superconducting transition temperature (T c ) is 16.2 K. ► Superconductivity and surface ferromagnetism coexist in the nanoparticles. ► Effect of size and agglomeration on the physical properties of nanoparticles

Comparative study of niobium nitride coatings deposited by unbalanced and balanced magnetron sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olaya, J.J.; Rodil, S.E.; Muhl, S.

2008-01-01

Niobium nitride (NbN) coatings have many interesting properties such as chemical inertness, excellent mechanical properties, high electrical conductivity, high melting point, and a superconducting transition temperature between 16 and 17 K. For this reason, these compounds have many potential thin film applications. In this work we compare the properties of NbN x films deposited using well-characterized balanced and unbalanced magnetron sputtering systems. Samples of NbN were deposited in the two systems under almost identical deposition conditions, that is, the same substrate temperature, plasma power, gas pressure, substrate to target distance and Ar/N 2 ratio. Prior to the film preparation both the magnetic field geometry and the characteristics of the plasma were determined. The microstructure and composition of the deposits were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The corrosion resistance and the micro-abrasion wear resistance were measured by anodic polarization potentiodynamic studies and by ball cratering, respectively. The NbN films grown using the highly unbalanced magnetron configuration had a preferential (111) crystal orientation and a composite hardness of up to 2400 HV 0.025 . While the films deposited using the balanced magnetron had a mixed crystalline orientation and a hardness of 2000 HV 0.025 . The results demonstrate the strong effect of magnetic field configuration on the ion bombardment, and the resultant coating characteristics

Comparative study of niobium nitride coatings deposited by unbalanced and balanced magnetron sputtering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olaya, J.J. [Departamento de Ingenieria Mecanica y Mecatronica, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota Colombia (Colombia); Rodil, S.E. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico D. F. 04510 (Mexico); Muhl, S. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico D. F. 04510 (Mexico)], E-mail: muhl@servidor.unam.mx

2008-10-01

Niobium nitride (NbN) coatings have many interesting properties such as chemical inertness, excellent mechanical properties, high electrical conductivity, high melting point, and a superconducting transition temperature between 16 and 17 K. For this reason, these compounds have many potential thin film applications. In this work we compare the properties of NbN{sub x} films deposited using well-characterized balanced and unbalanced magnetron sputtering systems. Samples of NbN were deposited in the two systems under almost identical deposition conditions, that is, the same substrate temperature, plasma power, gas pressure, substrate to target distance and Ar/N{sub 2} ratio. Prior to the film preparation both the magnetic field geometry and the characteristics of the plasma were determined. The microstructure and composition of the deposits were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The corrosion resistance and the micro-abrasion wear resistance were measured by anodic polarization potentiodynamic studies and by ball cratering, respectively. The NbN films grown using the highly unbalanced magnetron configuration had a preferential (111) crystal orientation and a composite hardness of up to 2400 HV{sub 0.025}. While the films deposited using the balanced magnetron had a mixed crystalline orientation and a hardness of 2000 HV{sub 0.025}. The results demonstrate the strong effect of magnetic field configuration on the ion bombardment, and the resultant coating characteristics.

Superconductivity of Rock-Salt Structure LaO Epitaxial Thin Film.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaminaga, Kenichi; Oka, Daichi; Hasegawa, Tetsuya; Fukumura, Tomoteru

2018-06-06

We report a superconducting transition in a LaO epitaxial thin film with the superconducting transition onset temperature ( T c ) at around 5 K. This T c is higher than those of other lanthanum monochalcogenides and opposite to their chemical trend: T c = 0.84, 1.02, and 1.48 K for LaX (X = S, Se, Te), respectively. The carrier control resulted in a dome-shaped T c as a function of electron carrier density. In addition, the T c was significantly sensitive to epitaxial strain in spite of the highly symmetric crystal structure. This rock-salt superconducting LaO could be a building block to design novel superlattice superconductors.

Recent developments in high purity niobium metal production at CBMM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, Gustavo Giovanni Ribeiro; Sousa, Clovis Antonio de Faria; Guimarães, Rogério Contato; Ribas, Rogério Marques; Vieira, Alaércio Salvador Martins; Menezes, Andréia Duarte; Fridman, Daniel Pallos; Cruz, Edmundo Burgos

2015-01-01

CBMM is a global supplier of high quality niobium products including pure niobium, the focus of this paper. CBMM’s position has been consolidated over three decades of producing high purity niobium metal ingots. The company supplies, among other products, commercial and reactor grade niobium ingots. One of the main uses of CBMM’s ingots is for the manufacture of particle accelerators (superconducting radio frequency – SRF – cavities), where the purity and homogeneity of niobium metal is essentially important for good performance. CBMM constantly strives to improve process controls and product quality, and is currently implementing innovations in production, research and development to further improve ingot quality. The main aim is to reduce the content of interstitial elements, such as nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), carbon (C), and hydrogen (H), starting with the raw materials through the final step of ingot production. CBMM held the first trial to produce the world’s largest-diameter niobium ingot (as cast 535 mm). The results of this initial trial presented very low levels of interstitial impurities (N, O, C, H), allowing the achievement of residual resistivity ratio (RRR) values very close to 300 in a six-melt process in an electron beam furnace. These values were reached with 850 ppm of tantalum. SRF cavities will be produced with this material in order to study the effect of low impurities and high RRR on the Q factor and accelerating gradient

Interaction at interface between superconducting yttrium ceramics and copper or niobium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karpov, M.I.; Korzhov, V.P.; Medved', N.V.; Myshlyaeva, M.M.

1992-01-01

Light metallography, scanning electron microscopy and local energy dispersion analysis have been used to study the interaction of Y-ceramics with copper and niobium. Samples in the form of wire of two types were employed, that is, consisting of ceramic core YBaCuO and Cu shell or a ceramic core YBaCuO and bimetallic Cu/Nb shell. The interaction of the ceramics with the shell metal began already at 500 deg with the formation at the interafaces Cu-YBaCuO of oxide layers containing ceramic elements, and in the ceramic core - nonsuperconducting phases. A thin Al-layer placed between the ceramics and the shell appreciably decreased the reactability of the ceramics with respect to copper and niobium

The fundamental science of nitrogen-doping of niobium superconducting cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Gonnella, Daniel Alfred

Doping of niobium superconducting RF cavities with impurities has been demonstrated to have the ability to significantly improve the cryogenic efficiency of the accelerating structures. Doping SRF cavities with nitrogen is a relatively simple additional step to cavity preparation that can make drastic improvements in a cavity's intrinsic quality factor, Q0. Nitrogen-doping consists of treating SRF cavities at high temperatures in a low nitrogen-atmosphere. This leads to two important effects: an improvement in Q0 at low fields, and the presence of an "anti-Q slope" in which the cryogenic efficiency of doped cavities actually improves at higher fields. After its initial discovery, nitrogen-doping showed real promise but many fundamental scientific questions remained about the process. Nitrogen-doped cavities consistently quenched at lower fields than un-doped cavities, cooling the cavities through their critical temperature slowly led to poor performance, and the mechanism behind the Q0 improvement was not well understood. This dissertation focuses on addressing these issues. Single-cell 1.3 GHz cavities were prepared with different nitrogen-dopings and their effects studied systematically. It was found that nitrogen-doping drastically lowers the mean free path of the RF penetration layer of the niobium, leading to a lowering of the temperature-dependent BCS resistance, RBCS, at low fields. Theoretical work to predict the anti-Q slope was compared with experimental results to more fundamentally understand the nature of the field dependence of RBCS. Nitrogen-doped cavities were found to have a much larger sensitivity of residual resistance from trapped magnetic flux than un-doped cavities. Fast cool downs with large spatial temperature gradients through Tc were found to more efficiently expel magnetic flux. The full dependence of this sensitivity to trapped magnetic flux was studied as a function of changing mean free path and found to be in good agreement with

Vortex dynamics in spacing-graded array of defects on a niobium film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, T.C.; Horng, Lance; Wu, J.C.; Hsiao, C.W.; Kolacek, Jan; Yang, T.J.

2006-01-01

We have investigated the vortex dynamics in the niobium films having a spacing-graded array of pinning sites. The samples were fabricated by using electron beam lithography through a lift-off technique. The pinning sites of 200 nm in diameter were arranged with a constant hole-defect separation in x-axis direction and graded separation in y-axis direction from 392 nm to 408 nm. The magnetoresistance measurements and current-voltage characteristics were explored with the external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the film plane. Dc current-voltage measured at matching field revealed two distinct curves resulted from the positive and negative applied current directions, respectively. This is believed to be due to an asymmetry pinning potential formed in the spacing-graded array of holes, giving rise to asymmetry Lorentz forces. Dc voltage drop measured with respect to the ac current applied along the x-axis of the sample showed two separated maxima, which can be explained using the dynamics of pinned vortex lattice and interstitial vortices in the asymmetry pinning landscape

Vortex variable range hopping in a conventional superconducting film

Science.gov (United States)

Percher, Ilana M.; Volotsenko, Irina; Frydman, Aviad; Shklovskii, Boris I.; Goldman, Allen M.

2017-12-01

The behavior of a disordered amorphous thin film of superconducting indium oxide has been studied as a function of temperature and magnetic field applied perpendicular to its plane. A superconductor-insulator transition has been observed, though the isotherms do not cross at a single point. The curves of resistance versus temperature on the putative superconducting side of this transition, where the resistance decreases with decreasing temperature, obey two-dimensional Mott variable-range hopping of vortices over wide ranges of temperature and resistance. To estimate the parameters of hopping, the film is modeled as a granular system and the hopping of vortices is treated in a manner analogous to hopping of charges. The reason the long-range interaction between vortices over the range of magnetic fields investigated does not lead to a stronger variation of resistance with temperature than that of two-dimensional Mott variable-range hopping remains unresolved.

Local imaging of magnetic flux in superconducting thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shapoval, Tetyana

2010-01-01

Local studies of magnetic flux line (vortex) distribution in superconducting thin films and their pinning by natural and artificial defects have been performed using low-temperature magnetic force microscopy (LT-MFM). Taken a 100 nm thin NbN film as an example, the depinning of vortices from natural defects under the influence of the force that the MFM tip exerts on the individual vortex was visualized and the local pinning force was estimated. The good agreement of these results with global transport measurements demonstrates that MFM is a powerful and reliable method to probe the local variation of the pinning landscape. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the presence of an ordered array of 1-μm-sized ferromagnetic permalloy dots being in a magneticvortex state underneath the Nb film significantly influences the natural pinning landscape of the superconductor leading to commensurate pinning effects. This strong pinning exceeds the repulsive interaction between the superconducting vortices and allows vortex clusters to be located at each dot. Additionally, for industrially applicable YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ thin films the main question discussed was the possibility of a direct correlation between vortices and artificial defects as well as vortex imaging on rough as-prepared thin films. Since the surface roughness (droplets, precipitates) causes a severe problem to the scanning MFM tip, a nanoscale wedge polishing technique that allows to overcome this problem was developed. Mounting the sample under a defined small angle results in a smooth surface and a monotonic thickness reduction of the film along the length of the sample. It provides a continuous insight from the film surface down to the substrate with surface sensitive scanning techniques. (orig.)

Superconducting nanowire networks formed on nanoporous membrane substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Qiong

Introducing a regular array of holes into superconducting thin films has been actively pursued to stabilize and pin the vortex lattice against external driving forces, enabling higher current capabilities. If the width of the sections between neighboring holes is comparable to the superconducting coherence length, the circulation of the Cooper pairs in around the holes in the presence of a magnetic field can also produce the Little-Parks effect, i.e. periodic oscillation of the critical temperature. These two mechanisms, commensurate vortex pinning enhancement by the hole-array and the critical temperature oscillations of a wire network due to Little-Parks effect can induce similar experimental observations such as magnetoresistance oscillation and enhancement of the critical current at specific magnetic fields. This dissertation work investigates the effect of a hole-array on the properties of superconducting films deposited onto nanoporous substrates. Experiments on anisotropies of the critical temperature for niobium films on anodic aluminum oxide membrane substrates containing a regular hole-array reveal that the critical temperature exhibits two strong anisotropic effects: Little-Parks oscillations whose period varies with field direction superimposed on a smooth background arising from one dimensional confinement by the finite lateral space between neighboring holes. The two components of the anisotropy are intrinsically linked and appear in concert. That is, the hole-array changes the dimensionality of a two-dimensional (2D) film to a network of 1D nanowire network. Network of superconducting nanowires with transverse dimensions as small as few nanometers were achieved by coating molybdenum germanium (MoGe) layer onto commercially available filtration membranes which have extremely dense nanopores. The magnetoresistance, magnetic field dependence of the critical temperature and the anisotropies of the synthesized MoGe nanowire networks can be consistently

Ferromagnetic Film on a Superconducting Substrate

OpenAIRE

Bulaevskii, L. N.; Chudnovsky, E. M.

2000-01-01

We study the equilibrium domain structure and magnetic flux around a ferromagnetic (FM) film with perpendicular magnetization M_0 on a superconducting (SC) substrate. At 4{\\pi}M_0> 1. Here \\lambda_L is the London penetration length. For 4{\\pi}M_0 > H_{c1} and l_{N} in excess of about 35 {\\lambda}_{L}, the domains are connected by SC vortices. We argue that pinning of vortices by magnetic domains in FM/SC multilayers can provide high critical currents.

Direct Observation of High-Temperature Superconductivity in One-Unit-Cell FeSe Films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Wen-Hao; Zhang Jin-Song; Li Fang-Sen; Guo Ming-Hua; Ding Hao; Tang Chen-Jia; Wang Qing-Yan; He Ke; Ji Shuai-Hua; Chen Xi; Sun Yi; Zhao Yan-Fei; Xing Ying; Wang Hui-Chao; Zhang Hui-Min; Peng Jun-Ping; Li Zhi; Wang Meng; Fujita Takeshi; Hirata Akihiko

2014-01-01

We prepared one-unit-cell (1-UC) thick FeSe films on insulating SrTiO 3 substrates with non-superconducting FeTe protection layers by molecular beam epitaxy for ex situ studies. By direct transport and magnetic measurements, we provide definitive evidence for high temperature superconductivity in the 1-UC FeSe films with an onset T C above 40 K and an extremely large critical current density J C ∼1.7×10 6 A/cm 2 at 2 K, which are much higher than T C ∼8 K and J C ∼10 4 A/cm 2 for bulk FeSe, respectively. Our work may pave the way to enhancing and tailoring superconductivity by interface engineering. (express letter)

High-frequency properties of superconducting Y-Ba-Cu-oxide thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramakrishnan, E.S.; Su, M.; Howng, W.

1992-01-01

rf and microwave properties of superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x thin films were measured and analyzed using a coplanar resonator structure. The films were developed by sequential electron-beam evaporation of the metals followed by postanneal processing. dc properties of the films were obtained from resistance-temperature and current-voltage measurements to evaluate the transition temperature and current densities. High-frequency properties were measured from 70 to 10 K and in the frequency range 1--3 GHz to determine the film characteristics as compared to pure copper films on the same substrates

Vortex loops in the critical Casimir effect in superfluid and superconducting films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, Gary A.

2004-01-01

Vortex-loop renormalization techniques are used to calculate the magnitude of the critical Casimir forces in superfluid and superconducting thin films. The force is found to become appreciable when the size of the thermally excited vortex loops is comparable to the film thickness, and the results for T c are found to match very well with perturbative renormalization-group theories that can only be carried out for T>T c . In helium films the Casimir force leads to a change in the film thickness close to T c that has been observed experimentally. A similar effect is predicted to occur near the transition temperature of high-T c superconducting films, which is also a vortex-loop phase transition. In this case the Casimir force takes the form of a voltage difference that will appear at the junction between a thin film and a bulk sample. Estimates show that this voltage can be appreciable (tens of microvolts), and it may be possible to observe the effect by measuring the voltage across two Josephson tunnel junctions to the film and to the bulk, using a SQUID voltmeter

High-Tc Superconducting Thick-Film Spiral Magnet: Development and Characterization of a Single Spiral Module

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McGinnis, W

1997-01-01

The objective of this project was to make characterized and numerically model prototype modules of a new type of superconducting electromagnet based on stacked spirals of superconducting thick films...

Corrosion of niobium and niobium alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yau, T.L.; Webster, R.T.

1987-01-01

Niobium and niobium alloys are used in several corrosion-resistant applications, principally rocket and jet engines, nuclear reactors, sodium vapor highway lighting, and chemical-processing equipment. Niobium has many of the same properties of tantalum, its sister metal, but has one half the density of tantalum (see the article ''Corrosion of Tantalum'' in this Volume). A common property of niobium and tantalum is the interaction with the reactive elements hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon at temperatures above 300 0 C (570 0 F). These reactions will cause severe embrittlement. Consequently, at elevated temperatures, the metal must be protectively coated or used in vacuum or inert atmospheres. Niobium resists a wide variety of corrosive environments, including concentrated mineral acids, organic acids, liquid metals (particularly sodium and lithium), metal vapors, and molten salts

Construction of a superconducting RFQ structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, K.W.; Givens, J.; Potter, J.M.

1994-01-01

This paper reports the development status of a niobium superconducting RFQ operating at 194 Mhz. The structure is of the rod and post type, novel in that each of four rods is supported by two posts oriented radially with respect to the beam axis. Although the geometry has four-fold rotation symmetry, the dipole-quadrupole mode splitting is large, giving good mechanical tolerances. The length of the structure is 52 cm, and the vanes are modulated to enable tests with an ion beam. The construction of a prototype niobium resonator is described

Status of work on superconducting quarter wave resonators at JAERI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeuchi, S.

1988-01-01

A superconducting heavy ion linac is being proposed for the JAERI-tandem booster. For the accelerating structure of the tandem booster which ought to accelerate heavy ions of wide range of mass numbers, quarter wave resonator (QWR)s are suitable because of their wide ion-velocity acceptance. Ions of hydrogen to bismuth from the JAERI tandem can be accelerated by β = 0.1 QWRs. The excellent result of a niobium QWR at Argonne National Laboratory was a motive for the development of niobium QWRs. Further considerations on the design were required, because the Argonne's QWR did not have beam ports nor frequency tuners. As a result of considerations on these points, it has been decided to have an oval cylinder for the outer conductor. The prototype resonator has been built and tested. The fabrication techniques of explosive bonding, electron beam welding and heat treatment were found to be available in domestic companies in 1984. After obtaining niobium and niobium-clad-copper materials in 1985, the prototype resonator was built in 1985-86. Electro-polishing was done in their laboratory. Tests at 4.2 K have been repeated several times in combination of treatments of the niobium surface. The work is proceeding to the construction of a buncher and a prototype linac unit which are composed of superconducting QWRs. 4 references, 4 figures, 2 tables

A review of basic phenomena and techniques for sputter-deposition of high temperature superconducting films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Auciello, O. (Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, Research Triangle Park, NC (USA) North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (USA). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering); Ameen, M.S.; Kingon, A.I.; Lichtenwalner, D.J. (North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (USA). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering); Krauss, A.R. (Argonne National Lab., IL (USA))

1990-01-01

The processes involved in plasma and ion beam sputter-deposition of high temperature superconducting thin films are critically reviewed. Recent advances in the development of these techniques are discussed in relation to basic physical phenomena, specific to each technique, which must be understood before high quality films can be produced. Control of film composition is a major issue in sputter-deposition of multicomponent materials. Low temperature processing of films is a common goal for each technique, particularly in relation to integrating high temperature superconducting films with the current microelectronics technology. It has been understood for some time that for Y{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} deposition, the most intensely studied high-{Tc} compound, incorporation of sufficient oxygen into the film during deposition is necessary to produce as-deposited superconducting films at relatively substrate temperatures. Recent results have shown that with the use of suitable buffer layers, high quality Y{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} sputtered films can be obtained on Si substrates without the need for post-deposition anneal processing. This review is mainly focussed on issues related to sputter-deposition of Y{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} thin films, although representative results concerning the bismuth and thallium based compounds are included. 143 refs., 11 figs.

Nano-engineered pinning centres in YBCO superconducting films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crisan, A., E-mail: adrian.crisan@infim.ro [National Institute for Materials Physics Bucharest, 105 bis Atomistilor Str., 077125 Magurele (Romania); School of Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT Birmingham (United Kingdom); Dang, V.S. [School of Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT Birmingham (United Kingdom); Nano and Energy Center, VNU Hanoi University of Science, 334 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Mikheenko, P. [School of Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT Birmingham (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1048 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo (Norway)

2017-02-15

Highlights: • Power applications of YBCO films/coated conductors in technological relevant magnetic fields requires nano-engineered pinning centre. • Three approaches have been proposed: substrate decoration, quasi-multilayers, and targets with secondary phase nano-inclusions. • Combination of all three approaches greatly increased critical current in YBCO films. • Bulk pinning force, pinning potential, and critical current density are estimated and discussed in relation with the type and strength of pinning centres related to the defects evidenced by Transmission Electron Microscopy. - Abstract: For practical applications of superconducting materials in applied magnetic fields, artificial pinning centres in addition to natural ones are required to oppose the Lorentz force. These pinning centres are actually various types of defects in the superconductor matrix. The pinning centres can be categorised on their dimension (volume, surface or point) and on their character (normal cores or Δκ cores). Different samples have been produced by Pulsed Laser Deposition, with various thicknesses, temperatures and nanostructured additions to the superconducting matrix. They have been characterized by SQUID Magnetic Properties Measurement System and Physical Properties Measurement System, as well as by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Correlations between pinning architecture, TEM images, and critical currents at various fields and field orientations will be shown for a large number of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub x} films with various types and architectures of artificial pinning centres.

High critical temperature superconducting composite and fabrication process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubots, P.; Legat, D.

1989-01-01

The core comprises a high temperature superconducting sintered oxide coated with alumina or barium oxide covered with a first sheath in aluminum, a second sheath in niobium and a third sheath in copper [fr

Development of vertical electropolishing process applied on 1300 and 704 MHz superconducting niobium resonators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Eozénou

2014-08-01

Full Text Available An advanced setup for vertical electropolishing of superconducting radio-frequency niobium elliptical cavities has been installed at CEA Saclay. Cavities are vertically electropolished with circulating standard HF-HF-H_{2}SO_{4} electrolytes. Parameters such as voltage, cathode shape, acid flow, and temperature have been investigated. A low voltage (between 6 and 10 V depending on the cavity geometry, a high acid flow (25  L/min, and a low acid temperature (20° C are considered as promising parameters. Such a recipe has been tested on single-cell and nine-cell International Linear Collider (ILC as well as 704 MHz five-cell Super Proton Linac (SPL cavities. Single-cell cavities showed similar performances at 1.6 K being either vertically or horizontally electropolished. The applied baking process provides similar benefit. An asymmetric removal is observed with faster removal in the upper half-cells. Multicell cavities (nine-cell ILC and five-cell SPL cavities exhibit a standard Q_{0} value at low and medium accelerating fields though limited by power losses due to field emitted electrons.

Niobium technological alternatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinatti, D.G.; Dainesi, C.R.

1981-01-01

The process-product matrix of Niobium is presented, through which the technological alternatives for Niobium are identified. It is shown that the three axes of Niobium application, steels, superalloys and metallic Niobium have a tendency to be economical by equivalent. The critical points where technological development of Niobium is needed are analyzed and results are presented on the following products: Nb 2 O 5 by volatilization, metalic Niobium, Niobium powder, bars and sheets, NbTi alloy, corrosion resistent Niobium alloys and superconductor cable and wires. (Author) [pt

Local imaging of magnetic flux in superconducting thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shapoval, Tetyana

2010-01-26

Local studies of magnetic flux line (vortex) distribution in superconducting thin films and their pinning by natural and artificial defects have been performed using low-temperature magnetic force microscopy (LT-MFM). Taken a 100 nm thin NbN film as an example, the depinning of vortices from natural defects under the influence of the force that the MFM tip exerts on the individual vortex was visualized and the local pinning force was estimated. The good agreement of these results with global transport measurements demonstrates that MFM is a powerful and reliable method to probe the local variation of the pinning landscape. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the presence of an ordered array of 1-{mu}m-sized ferromagnetic permalloy dots being in a magneticvortex state underneath the Nb film significantly influences the natural pinning landscape of the superconductor leading to commensurate pinning effects. This strong pinning exceeds the repulsive interaction between the superconducting vortices and allows vortex clusters to be located at each dot. Additionally, for industrially applicable YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-{delta}} thin films the main question discussed was the possibility of a direct correlation between vortices and artificial defects as well as vortex imaging on rough as-prepared thin films. Since the surface roughness (droplets, precipitates) causes a severe problem to the scanning MFM tip, a nanoscale wedge polishing technique that allows to overcome this problem was developed. Mounting the sample under a defined small angle results in a smooth surface and a monotonic thickness reduction of the film along the length of the sample. It provides a continuous insight from the film surface down to the substrate with surface sensitive scanning techniques. (orig.)

Lanthanum gallate substrates for epitaxial high-temperature superconducting thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Sandstrom, R. L.; Giess, E. A.; Gallagher, W. J.; Segmuller, A.; Cooper, E. I.

1988-11-01

It is demonstrated that lanthanum gallate (LaGaO3) has considerable potential as an electronic substrate material for high-temperature superconducting films. It provides a good lattice and thermal expansion match to YBa2Cu3O(7-x), can be grown in large crystal sizes, is compatible with high-temperature film processing, and has a reasonably low dielectric constant and low dielectric losses. Epitaxial YBa2Cu3O(7-x) films grown on LaGaO3 single-crystal substrates by three techniques have zero resistance between 87 and 91 K.

Superconducting thin films of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O by laser ablation

Science.gov (United States)

Bedekar, M. M.; Safari, A.; Wilber, W.

1992-11-01

Superconducting thin films of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O have been deposited by KrF excimer laser ablation. The best in situ films showed a Tc onset of 110 K and a Tc(0) of 76 K. A study of the laser plume revealed the presence of two distinct regimes. The forward directed component increased with fluence and the film composition was stoichiometric in this region. This is in agreement with the results on the 123 system by Venkatesan et al. [1]. The film properties were found to be critically dependent on the substrate temperature and temperatures close to melting gave rise to 2212 and 2223 phases. At lower temperatures, 2201 and amorphous phases were obtained. The film morphology and superconducting properties were a function of the target to substrate distance and the oxygen pressure during deposition and cooling. An increase in the target to substrate distance led to a deterioration of the properties due to the energy consideration for the formation of 2212 and 2223 phases. The best films were obtained using cooling pressures of 700 Torr. The microwave surface resistance of the films measured at 35 GHz dropped below that of copper at 30 K. Film growth was studied using X-ray diffraction and STM/AFM. This work is a discussion of the role of the different variables on the film properties.

In-situ deposition of YBCO high-Tc superconducting thin films by MOCVD and PE-MOCVD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, J.; Noh, D.W.; Chern, C.; Li, Y.Q.; Norris, P.E.; Kear, B.; Gallois, B.

1991-01-01

Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) offers the advantages of a high degree of compositional control, adaptability for large scale production, and the potential for low temperature fabrication. The capability of operating at high oxygen partial pressure is particularly suitable for in situ formation of high temperature superconducting (HTSC) films. Yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) thin films having a sharp zero-resistance transition with T(sub c) greater than 90 K and J(sub c) of approximately 10(exp 4) A on YSZ have been prepared, in situ, at a substrate temperature of about 800 C. Moreover, the ability to form oxide films at low temperature is very desirable for device applications of HTSC materials. Such a process would permit the deposition of high quality HTSC films with a smooth surface on a variety of substrates. Highly c-axis oriented, dense, scratch resistant, superconducting YBCO thin films with mirror-like surfaces have been prepared, in situ, at a reduced substrate temperature as low as 570 C by a remote microwave-plasma enhanced metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (PE-MOCVD) process. Nitrous oxide was used as a reactant gas to generate active oxidizing species. This process, for the first time, allows the formation of YBCO thin films with the orthorhombic superconducting phase in the as-deposited state. The as-deposited films grown by PE-MOCVD show attainment of zero resistance at 72 K with a transition width of about 5 K. MOCVD was carried out in a commercial production scale reactor with the capability of uniform deposition over 100 sq cm per growth run. Preliminary results indicate that PE-MOCVD is a very attractive thin film deposition process for superconducting device technology

Superconducting accelerometer using niobium-on-sapphire rf resonator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blair, D.G.

1979-01-01

An accelerometer is described which uses a rf niobium-on-sapphire resonator as its sensor element. The accelerometer uses a magnetically levitated spool as a test mass and the spool modulates the inductance of the resonator; its position is servo controlled to maintain the resonator at the external rf excitation frequency. The accelerometer has high sensitivity over the full audio frequency range, but is optimized for frequencies between 100 Hz and 1 kHz, where the calculated displacement sensitivity approaches 10 -15 cm for a 1 Hz measurement bandwidth. The system noise sources are analyzed and possible improvements are discussed

Superconducting kinetic inductance detectors for astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vardulakis, G; Withington, S; Goldie, D J; Glowacka, D M

2008-01-01

The kinetic inductance detector (KID) is an exciting new device that promises high-sensitivity, large-format, submillimetre to x-ray imaging arrays for astrophysics. KIDs comprise a superconducting thin-film microwave resonator capacitively coupled to a probe transmission line. By exciting the electrical resonance with a microwave probe signal, the transmission phase of the resonator can be monitored, allowing the deposition of energy or power to be detected. We describe the fabrication and low-temperature testing, down to 26 mK, of a number of devices, and confirm the basic principles of operation. The KIDs were fabricated on r-plane sapphire using superconducting niobium and aluminium as the resonator material, and tantalum as the x-ray absorber. KID quality factors of up to Q = (741 ± 15) × 10 3 were measured for niobium at 1 K, and quasiparticle effective recombination times of τ* R = 30 µs after x-ray absorption. Al/Ta quasiparticle traps were combined with resonators to make complete detectors. These devices were operated at 26 mK with quality factors of up Q = (187.7 ± 3.5) × 10 3 and a phase-shift responsivity of ∂θ/∂N qp = (5.06 ± 0.23) × 10 −6 degrees per quasiparticle. Devices were characterized both at thermal equilibrium and as x-ray detectors. A range of different x-ray pulse types was observed. Low phase-noise readout measurements on Al/Ta KIDs gave a minimum NEP = 1.27 × 10 −16 W Hz −1/2 at a readout frequency of 550 Hz and NEP = 4.60 × 10 −17 W Hz −1/2 at 95 Hz, for effective recombination times τ* R = 100 µs and τ* R = 350 µs respectively. This work demonstrates that high-sensitivity detectors are possible, encouraging further development and research into KIDs

Microwave superconductivity for particle accelerators - How the high TC superconductors measure up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padamsee, H.; Green, K.; Gruschus, J.

1988-01-01

Application of superconducting niobium cavities to accelerators for high energy physics, nuclear physics and free electron laser is growing rapidly. Cornell has a long standing effort in the development of superconducting RF accelerator technology. Nb cavities developed here from the basis for constructing the world's highest energy electron accelerator for nuclear physics. These cavities have set a standard against which the behavior of the new superconductors must be compared. From available results on dc critical fields, and the energy gap, it appears that the new materials could make a significant impact on the capabilities of future accelerators. Crucial to this assessment, however, are direct microwave loss measurements, together with measurements of the energy gap and RF frequency dependence as well as the behavior at high RF fields. Latest results on these properties for bulk sintered ceramics, thin films and single crystals at RF frequencies of 1.5 and 6 Ghz are presented

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition for YBCO film fabrication of superconducting fault-current limiter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jun, Byung Hyuk; Kim, Chan Joong

2006-05-15

Since the high-temperature superconductor of oxide type was founded, many researches and efforts have been performed for finding its application field. The YBCO superconducting film fabricated on economic metal substrate with uniform critical current density is considered as superconducting fault-current limiter (SFCL). There are physical and chemical processes to fabricate superconductor film, and it is understood that the chemical methods are more economic to deposit large area. Among them, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a promising deposition method in obtaining film uniformity. To solve the problems due to the high deposition temperature of thermal CVD, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is suggested. This report describes the principle and fabrication trend of SFCL, example of YBCO film deposition by PECVD method, and principle of plasma deposition.

Method of removing niobium from uranium-niobium alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollock, E.N.; Schlier, D.S.; Shinopulos, G.

1992-01-01

This patent describes a method of removing niobium from a uranium-niobium alloy. It comprises dissolving the uranium-niobium alloy metal pieces in a first aqueous solution containing an acid selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid and fluoboric acid as a catalyst to provide a second aqueous solution, which includes uranium (U +4 ), acid radical ions, the acids insolubles including uranium oxides and niobium oxides; adding nitric acid to the insolubles to oxidize the niobium oxides to yield niobic acid and to complete the solubilization of any residual uranium; and separating the niobic acid from the nitric acid and solubilized uranium

Investigation and reduction of excess low-frequency noise in rf superconducting quantum interference devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueck, M.; Heiden, C.; Clarke, J.

1994-01-01

A detailed study has been made of the low-frequency excess noise of rf superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), fabricated from thin niobium films and operated at 4.2 K, with rf bias frequencies of 0.15, 1.7, and 3 GHz. When the SQUIDs were operated in an open-loop configuration in the absence of low-frequency flux modulation, the demodulated rf voltage exhibited a substantial level 1/f noise, which was essentially independent of the rf bias frequency. As the rf bias frequency was increased, the crossover frequency at which the 1/f noise power was equal to the white noise power moved to higher frequencies, because of the reduction in white noise. On the other hand, when the SQUID was flux modulated at 50 kHz and operated in a flux locked loop, no 1/f noise was observed at frequencies above 0.5 Hz. A detailed description of how the combination of rf bias and flux modulation removes 1/f noise due to critical current fluctuations is given. Thus, the results demonstrate that the 1/f noise observed in these SQUIDs is generated by critical current fluctuations, rather than by the hopping of flux vortices in the niobium films

Development of low angle grain boundaries in lightly deformed superconducting niobium and their influence on hydride distribution and flux perturbation

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Z.-H.; Wang, M.; Polyanskii, A. A.; Santosh, C.; Balachandran, S.; Compton, C.; Larbalestier, D. C.; Bieler, T. R.; Lee, P. J.

2017-05-01

This study shows that low angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) can be created by small 5% strains in high purity (residual resistivity ratio ≥ 200) superconducting radio frequency (SRF)-grade single crystalline niobium (Nb) and that these boundaries act as hydrogen traps as indicated by the distribution of niobium hydrides (Nb1-xHx). Nb1-xHx is detrimental to SRF Nb cavities due to its normal conducting properties at cavity operating temperatures. By designing a single crystal tensile sample extracted from a large grain (>5 cm) Nb ingot slice for preferred slip on one slip plane, LAGBs and dense dislocation boundaries developed. With chemical surface treatments following standard SRF cavity fabrication practice, Nb1-xHx phases were densely precipitated at the LAGBs upon cryogenic cooling (8-10 K/min). Micro-crystallographic analysis confirmed heterogeneous hydride precipitation, which included significant hydrogen atom accumulation in LAGBs. Magneto-optical imaging analysis showed that these sites can then act as sites for both premature flux penetration and eventually flux trapping. However, this hydrogen related degradation at LAGBs did not completely disappear even after an 800 °C/2 h anneal typically used for hydrogen removal in SRF Nb cavities. These findings suggest that hydride precipitation at an LAGB is facilitated by a non-equilibrium concentration of vacancy-hydrogen (H) complexes aided by mechanical deformation and the hydride phase interferes with the recovery process under 800 °C annealing.

Growth of YBCO superconducting thin films on CaF sub 2 buffered silicon

CERN Document Server

Bhagwat, S S; Patil, J M; Shirodkar, V S

2000-01-01

CaF sub 2 films were grown on silicon using the neutral cluster beam deposition technique. These films were highly crystalline and c-axis oriented. Superconducting YBCO thin films were grown on the Ca F sub 2 buffered silicon using the laser ablation technique. These films showed T sub c (onset) at 90 K and Tc(zero) at 86 K. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the YBCO films were also oriented along the c-axis.

Lanthanum gallate substrates for epitaxial high-temperature superconducting thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandstrom, R.L.; Giess, E.A.; Gallagher, W.J.; Segmueller, A.; Cooper, E.I.; Chisholm, M.F.; Gupta, A.; Shinde, S.; Laibowitz, R.B.

1988-01-01

We demonstrate that lanthanum gallate (LaGaO 3 ) has considerable potential as an electronic substrate material for high-temperature superconducting films. It provides a good lattice and thermal expansion match to YBa 2 Cu 3 O/sub 7-//sub x/, can be grown in large crystal sizes, is compatible with high-temperature film processing, and has a reasonably low dielectric constant (ε≅25) and low dielectric losses. Epitaxial YBa 2 Cu 3 O/sub 7-//sub x/ films grown on LaGaO 3 single-crystal substrates by three techniques have zero resistance between 87 and 91 K

Superconductivity and electronic structure of superpure niobium. 3. Magnetoconductivity and magnetic breakdown in large magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alekseevskij, N.E.; Nizhankovskij, V.I.; Bertel', K.-X.

1976-01-01

Measurements have been of electric conductivity and magnetoresistance of niobium monocrystals with various orientations in helium and hydrogen temperature regions in steady-state magnetic fields of up to 175 ke. At helium temperatures the resistance is shown to be proportional to the square of temperature. A significant longitudinal magnetoresistance of niobium has been established, depending on the sample orientation. Its initiation is attributed to the open nature of the niobium Fermi surface. As a result of studying the lateral magnetoresistance in fields of up to 92 ke, a stereographic projection of niobium open directions has been constructed. Open trajectories exist both in two-dimensional regions around the directions [100] and [111] and along the symmetry lines. Studies conducted in fields of up to 175 ke have revealed a magnetic break- own leading to the conversion of the open trajectories to the closed ones. A comprehensive picture of the magnetic break-down in niobium has been obtained, and on the basis of the coherent model an expression has been derived describing the impact of this break-down on the resistance. Comparison between experimental and theoretical dependences of the magnetoresistance on the field characteristics has provided the value of the break-down field H 0 =280 ke

Response of fractal penetration of magnetic flux to disorder landscape in superconducting films

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Zuxin; Li, Qiang; Si, W. D.; Suenaga, M.; Solovyov, V. F.; Johnson, P. D.

2005-10-01

Magnetic flux front and induction contours in superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-δ films with defect size stilde ξ (superconducting coherence length) and s≫ξ are studied by magneto-optical imaging. Robust self-affine spatial correlation was observed using scaling analysis in the small pinning disorder-dominated ( stilde ξ) films. The roughness exponent α was determined to be ˜0.66 , independent of numbers of defects (or the film thickness). When the disorder landscape also included a distribution of large defects (s≫ξ) , the flux front and induction contours exhibited self-similarity, with a fractal dimension D determined to be ˜1.33 using the box-counting method. The remarkably different flux penetration patterns were shown to be the manifestation of self-organized criticality at different length scales.

Study of thermal phenomena in niobium superconducting cavities when stiffened by thermal spray coating; Etude des phenomenes thermiques dans les cavites acceleratrices supraconductrices en niobium rigidifiees par projection thermique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bousson, S

2000-02-01

The first objective of this thesis is to study a new superconducting cavity stiffening method based on thermal spraying. The principle is to add on the cavity external walls a copper layer using the thermal spraying process. Several tests on samples allowed to measure the thermal and mechanical properties of the layers deposited by several different processes. Measurements performed on 3 and 1.3 GHz niobium cavities, before and after copper deposition, proved the interest and feasibility of the method. The study showed the need to have very dense layers (porosity reduced to the minimum in order to have good mechanical characteristics), and not oxidised (to reduce the coating thermal resistance). As a conclusion, the spraying process performed under controlled atmosphere seems to be the most suited for superconducting cavity stiffening. The tools and analysing methods which have been developed for this study allowed to investigate other phenomena involved in the cavity thermal stability, and particularly the quench, a phenomenon often studied but not in its dynamic. A model is proposed in this thesis to analyse the quench dynamic behaviour using only the fast RF signal measurement during a quench. It has been shown that the quench propagation velocity depends essentially on the accelerating field and the niobium thermal conductivity. A study on the thermometer response time used as diagnostics on cavities proved that the transients during a quench are not efficiently measured with Allen-Bradley sensors: for this application Cernox thermometers are to be preferred due to their lower time response. The development of a thermometer acquisition device for the 3 GHz cavities, used for the study on cavity stiffening, has been adapted for anomalous heating measurements on high gradient 1.3 GHz cavities. It has been possible to prove that anomalous RF losses are responsible of the quality factor degradation, that they are not localised in a small of the cavity, but

The superconducting magnet system for the Tokamak Physics Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lang, D.D.; Bulmer, R.J.; Chaplin, M.R.; O'Connor, T.G.; Slack, D.S.; Wong, R.L.; Zbasnik, J.P.; Schultz, J.H.; Diatchenko, N.; Montgomery, D.B.

1994-01-01

The superconducting magnet system for the Tokamak Physics eXperiment (TPX) will be the first all superconducting magnet system for a Tokamak, where the poloidal field coils, in addition to the toroidal field coils are superconducting. The magnet system is designed to operate in a steady state mode, and to initiate the plasma discharge ohmically. The toroidal field system provides a peak field of 4.0 Tesla on the plasma axis at a plasma major radius of 2.25 m. The peak field on the niobium 3-tin, cable-in-conduit (CIC) conductor is 8.4 Tesla for the 16 toroidal field coils. The toroidal field coils must absorb approximately 5 kW due to nuclear heating, eddy currents, and other sources. The poloidal field system provides a total of 18 volt seconds to initiate the plasma and drive a plasma current up to 2 MA. The poloidal field system consists of 14 individual coils which are arranged symmetrically above and below the horizontal mid plane. Four pairs of coils make up the central solenoid, and three pairs of poloidal ring coils complete the system. The poloidal field coils all use a cable-in-conduit conductor, using either niobium 3-tin (Nb 3 Sn) or niobium titanium (NbTi) superconducting strands depending on the operating conditions for that coil. All of the coils are cooled by flowing supercritical helium, with inlet and outlet connections made on each double pancake. The superconducting magnet system has gone through a conceptual design review, and is in preliminary design started by the LLNL/MIT/PPPL collaboration. A number of changes have been made in the design since the conceptual design review, and are described in this paper. The majority of the design and all fabrication of the superconducting magnet system will be ,accomplished by industry, which will shortly be taking over the preliminary design. The magnet system is expected to be completed in early 2000

Superconducting super collider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Limon, P.J.

1987-01-01

The Superconducting Super Collider is to be a 20 TeV per beam proton-proton accelerator and collider. Physically the SCC will be 52 miles in circumference and slightly oval in shape. The use of superconducting magnets instead of conventional cuts the circumference from 180 miles to the 52 miles. The operating cost of the SCC per year is estimated to be about $200-250 million. A detailed cost estimate of the project is roughly $3 billion in 1986 dollars. For the big collider ring, the technical cost are dominated by the magnet system. That is why one must focus on the cost and design of the magnets. Presently, the process of site selection is underway. The major R and D efforts concern superconducting dipoles. The magnets use niobium-titanium as a conductor stabilized in a copper matrix. 10 figures

Temperature dependence of the experimental penetration depth of superconducting thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fink, H.J.; Gruenfeld, V.; Pastawski, H.

1982-01-01

Experimental magnetic field penetration depths delta(t,d,H) of the stable and superheated Meissner state were calculated as a function of temperature for various applied magnetic fields and various film thicknesses for two cases: (1) lambda(t)/d<< kappa→infinity and (2) kappa< or approx. =2lambda(t)/d (lambda is the Ginzburg-Landau penetration depth, d is the film thickness, kappa is the GL parameter). The results of the first case should be a useful tool for obtaining lambda(0) of amorphous superconducting thin films

Method of manufacturing a niobium-aluminum-germanium superconductive material

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J.L.F.; Pickus, M.R.; Douglas, K.E.

A method for manufacturing flexible Nb/sub 3/ (Al,Ge) multifilamentary superconductive material in which a sintered porous Nb compact is infiltrated with an Al-Ge alloy. It is deformed and heat treated in a series of steps at successively higher temperatures preferably below 1000/sup 0/C during the heat treatment, cladding material such as copper can be applied to facilitate a deformation step preceding the heat treatment and can remain in place through the heat treatment to serve as a temperature stabilizer for the superconductive material produced. These lower heat treatment temperatures favor formation of filaments with reduced grain size and with more grain boundaries which in turn increase the current-carrying capacity of the superconductive material.

Superconductivity in Na{sub 1-x}CoO{sub 2}.yH{sub 2}O thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hildebrandt, Sandra; Komissinkiy, Philipp; Alff, Lambert [Institute for Materials Science, TU Darmstadt (Germany); Fritsch, Ingo; Habermeier, Hanns-Ulrich [Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart (Germany); Lemmens, Peter [Institute for Condensed Matter Physics, TU Braunschweig (Germany)

2010-07-01

Sodium cobaltate (Na{sub 1-x}CoO{sub 2}) is a novel material with thermoelectric behavior, charge and spin ordered states dependent on the sodium content in the composition. A superconducting phase was found in water intercalated sodium cobaltate (Na{sub 1-x}CoO{sub 2}.yH{sub 2}O) with x=0.65-0.7 and y=0.9-1.3. The pairing state is still under debate, but there are some indications for a spin-triplet or p-wave superconducting pairing state. First films of Na{sub 1-x}CoO{sub 2}.yH{sub 2}O with a superconducting transition temperature near 5 K have been successfully grown. Here we report on thin films of Na{sub 1-x}CoO{sub 2} grown by pulsed laser deposition technique. The deposition parameters, sodium deintercalation and water intercalation conditions are tuned in order to obtain the superconducting phase. The instability of this phase might be an indication for triplet superconductivity, which is known to be affected strongly by impurities and defects.This observation is in agreement with the fact that so far also no superconducting thin films of the most famous triplet superconductor Sr{sub 2}RuO{sub 4} have been reported.

Superconductivity, magnetics, cryogenics, and vacuum coating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akin, J.E.; Ballou, J.K.; Beaver, R.J.

1975-01-01

The Engineering Sciences Department continued to provide consultation, design, and experiment to support the plasma physics activities of the Division while inaugurating a comprehensive program to develop superconducting magnets for toroidal fusion devices. This newly funded program is aimed at producing toroidal superconducting magnets for an experimental power reactor by the mid 1980's. Other superconducting work, such as the 14-T niobium tin solenoid designed last year for use in Moessbauer experiments, has been fabricated, successfully tested, and delivered to the Physics Division. This coil, which used a 1.27-cm wide Nb 3 Sn conductor operating at 14 T with a coil current density of 11,000 A/cm, represents an advance in the state-of-the-art. The conceptual design was provided for a subcooler to extend the ORMAK operating temperature to 70 0 K and thus allow operation at fields up to 25 kG with the present generators. The detailed design, fabrication, installation supervision, and acceptance testing of the subcooler were provided by the UCCND engineering organization. Further support to the ORMAK program was provided by the vacuum-coating activity through an investigation of sputtering erosion of the ORMAK liner. In addition, a program was undertaken to develop a variety of refractory surfaces of metals, alloys, and intermetallic compounds on stainless steel for use as first walls in future fusion devices. Adherent thick-film metallic and compound coatings deposited in vacuum by several mechanisms were produced and tested. (U.S.)

Fabrication of superconducting niobium radio frequency structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchgessner, J.; Amato, J.; Brawley, J.

1983-01-01

During the last several years a variety of superconducting radio frequency structures have been designed, fabricated and tested. The diverse structures and fabrication techniques are described. This paper is a description of the authors' experiences in this field

Vitreous-enamel protective coatings for niobium and niobium alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobyakov, V.P.; Sedmale, G.P.; Tsimdin', R.A.; Sedmalis, U.Ya.; Tsetskhladze, D.L.; Gosudarstvennyj Komitet po Ispol'zovaniyu Atomnoj Ehnergii SSSR, Sukhumi. Fiziko-Tekhnicheskij Inst.)

1988-01-01

Vitreous-enanel coatings to protect niobium and niobium alloys, used in oxidizing media at temperatures up to 1000degC, from embrittlement are developed on the basis of Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 -P 2 O 5 -Ba vetrificating system. By means of microhardness measurement and IR-spectroscopy it is found, that at coating formation the intermediate ∼20 mkm width zone which prevents oxygen penetration in niobium is formed. Test of niobium pieces with ERS-1000 vitreous-enamel coating have shown, that coating provides niobium reliable protection in the air at 800degC and atmospheric pressure

A-15 superconducting composite wires and a method for making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suenaga, M.; Klamut, C. J.; Luhman, Th. S.

1984-01-01

A method for fabricating superconducting wires wherein a billet of copper containing filaments of niobium or vanadium is rolled to form a strip which is wrapped about a tin-alloy core to form a composite. The alloy is a tin-copper alloy for niobium filaments and a gallium-copper alloy for vanadium filaments. The composite is then drawn down to a desired wire size and heat treated. During the heat treatment process, The tin in the bronze reacts with the niobium to form the superconductor niobium tin. In the case where vanadium is used, the gallium in the gallium bronze reacts with the vanadium to form the superconductor vanadium gallium. This new process eliminates the costly annealing steps, external tin plating and drilling of bronze ingots required in a number of prior art processes

Physics and material science of ultra-high quality factor superconducting resonator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vostrikov, Alexander

2015-01-01

The nitrogen doping into niobium superconducting radio frequency cavity walls aiming to improve the fundamental mode quality factor is the subject of the research in the given work. Quantitative nitrogen diffusion into niobium model calculating the concentration profile was developed. The model estimations were confirmed with secondary ion mass spectrometry technique measurements. The model made controlled nitrogen doping recipe optimization possible. As a result the robust reproducible recipe for SRF cavity walls treatment with nitrogen doping was developed. The cavities produced with optimized recipe met LCLS-II requirements on quality factor of 2.7 · 10 10 at acceleration field of 16 MV/m. The microscopic effects of nitrogen doping on superconducting niobium properties were studied with low energy muon spin rotation technique and magnetometer measurements. No significant effect of nitrogen on the following features was found: electron mean free path, magnetic field penetration depth, and upper and surface critical magnetic fields. It was detected that for nitrogen doped niobium samples magnetic flux starts to penetrate inside the superconductor at lower external magnetic field value compared to the low temperature baked niobium ones. This explains lower quench field of SRF cavities treated with nitrogen. Quality factor improvement of fundamental mode forced to analyze the high order mode (HOM) impact on the particle beam dynamics. Both resonant and cumulative effects caused by monopole and dipole HOMs respectively are found to be negligible within the requirements for LCLS-II.

Physics and material science of ultra-high quality factor superconducting resonator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vostrikov, Alexander [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)

2015-08-01

The nitrogen doping into niobium superconducting radio frequency cavity walls aiming to improve the fundamental mode quality factor is the subject of the research in the given work. Quantitative nitrogen diffusion into niobium model calculating the concentration profile was developed. The model estimations were confirmed with secondary ion mass spectrometry technique measurements. The model made controlled nitrogen doping recipe optimization possible. As a result the robust reproducible recipe for SRF cavity walls treatment with nitrogen doping was developed. The cavities produced with optimized recipe met LCLS–II requirements on quality factor of 2.7 ∙ 10¹⁰ at acceleration field of 16 MV/m. The microscopic effects of nitrogen doping on superconducting niobium properties were studied with low energy muon spin rotation technique and magnetometer measurements. No significant effect of nitrogen on the following features was found: electron mean free path, magnetic field penetration depth, and upper and surface critical magnetic fields. It was detected that for nitrogen doped niobium samples magnetic flux starts to penetrate inside the superconductor at lower external magnetic field value compared to the low temperature baked niobium ones. This explains lower quench field of SRF cavities treated with nitrogen. Quality factor improvement of fundamental mode forced to analyze the high order mode (HOM) impact on the particle beam dynamics. Both resonant and cumulative effects caused by monopole and dipole HOMs respectively are found to be negligible within the requirements for LCLS–II.

Disorder and fluctuations in superconducting YBa2Cu3O6.9 films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gauzzi, A.

1993-01-01

We have developed the technique of ion-beam sputtering to grow thin (∼ 100 nm) superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.9 (YBCO) films. We demonstrate that this technique is suitable for the in-situ deposition at low temperatures ( o C) of uniform films over large areas (≤30 cm 2 ). We found that preferential sputtering effects disappear if low-power ions-beams are used, thus enabling the control of the 1:2:3 composition by using a single stoichiometric target. We have found that the disorder in the crystal, introduced by too high or too low growth temperatures, affects strikingly both, the superconducting and the transport properties of the films. We report evidence that disorder on the atomic scale plays a role equivalent to oxygen doping. The similarity observed between the effects of crystal disorder in our films and the effects of oxygen depletion or Co-doping reported in the literature suggests that the disorder affects mainly the CuO chains. This implies that the local order of the chains controls not only the superconducting properties, as already established in the literature, but also the transport of the carriers in the normal state. Finally, we have investigated the local character of the superconducting state of YBCO by studying the paraconductivity in our films. We have found no indication of critical fluctuations at temperatures ≥5 mK above the zero-resistance critical temperature. Our analysis indicates that the spectrum of mean-field fluctuations is dominated by short-wavelength components and is affected by disorder. As a consequence, the temperature dependence of the critical exponents becomes complex and deviates from the universal predictions of conventional theories. We have explained quantitatively our experimental data and clarified the controversy existing in the literature by using a three-dimensional cut-off approach applied to the Lorentzian spectrum of the Ginzburg-Landau theory. (author) figs., tabs., refs

Effect of superconducting electrons on the energy splitting of tunneling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, C.C.; Granato, A.V.

1985-01-01

We consider the effect of superconducting electrons on the magnitude of the energy splitting of a tunneling system. A specific example is a hydrogen atom tunneling in niobium. We find that in this case the splitting is roughly 20% smaller in the normal state than in the superconducting state. This difference in the splitting should be observable in neutron scattering and ultrasonic measurements

Fractional flux excitations and flux creep in a superconducting film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyuksyutov, I.F.

1995-01-01

We consider the transport properties of a modulated superconducting film in a magnetic field parallel to the film. Modulation can be either intrinsic, due to the layered structure of the high-T c superconductors, or artificial, e.g. due to thickness modulation. This system has an infinite set ( >) of pinned phases. In the pinned phase the excitation of flux loops with a fractional number of flux quanta by the applied current j results in flux creep with a generated voltage V ∝ exp[-jo/j[. (orig.)

Superconducting magnet wire

Science.gov (United States)

Schuller, Ivan K.; Ketterson, John B.; Banerjee, Indrajit

1986-01-01

A superconducting tape or wire with an improved critical field is formed of alternating layers of a niobium-containing superconductor such as Nb, NbTi, Nb.sub.3 Sn or Nb.sub.3 Ge with a thickness in the range of about 0.5-1.5 times its coherence length, supported and separated by layers of copper with each copper layer having a thickness in the range of about 170-600 .ANG..

Two-dimensional superconductivity in ultrathin disordered thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beasley, M.R.

1992-01-01

The status of the understanding of two-dimensional superconductivity in ultrathin, disordered thin films is reviewed. The different consequences of microscopic versus macroscopic disorder are stressed. It is shown that microscopic disorder leads to a rapid suppression of the mean-field transition temperature. The consequences of macroscopic disorder are not well understood, but a universal behavior of the zero-bias resistance as a function of field and temperature has been observed. (orig.)

Characterization and modification of the interface of superconducting Nb/Cu cavities by ion beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El Bouanani, M.

1990-05-01

Radiofrequency superconducting Nb/Cu cavities for electron beam acceleration are studied in a collaboration between CEA and IN2P3 (CNRS). The quality of superconducting cavity is closely related to the purity of the surface material. In such an aim, carbon and oxygen contaminations at the surface and at the interface of the Nb/Cu device has been measured. Since the niobium film is deposited on copper by magnetron sputtering under argon atmosphere, argon analysis is performed using the resonance in the nuclear reaction Ar 40 (p,γ) 41 K at the proton energy of 1102 keV. In order to simulate the energy deposition occurring during particle acceleration, Nb/Cu samples have been irradiated with a 600 keV argon beam. The element distribution evolution is then followed by RBS and NBS. Ion beam mixing effect in the case of samples with oxygen interface contamination (Nb/Nb + Ox + Cu/Cu) is shown to be enhanced [fr

Towards a Cryogen-Free MgB2-Based Superconducting Radio Frequency Accelerating Cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Nassiri, Alireza

Studies on the application of Magnesium diboride (MgB2) superconducting films have shown promise for use with the radio-frequency (SRF) accelerating cavities. MgB2\\ coating is a potential candidate to replace bulk niobium (Nb) SRF cavities. The ultimate goal of our research is to demonstrate MgB2 coating on copper cavities to allow operation at about 20 K or so as a result of the high transition temperature (Tc) of MgB2 and taking advantage of the excellent thermal conductivity of copper. Here, we will report on our recent experimental results of applying hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition (HPCVD) to grow MgB2 films on 2-inch diameter copper discs as well as on a 2.8 GHz resonator cavity *Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06H11357.

Detection of second harmonic of phase dependence of superconducting current in Nb/Au/YBCO heterojunctions

CERN Document Server

Komissinskij, F V; Ilichev, E V; Ivanov, Z G

2001-01-01

The results of the experimental study on the current phase dependence (CPD) of the heterotransitions, consisting of the niobium and the YBa sub 2 Cu sub 3 O sub x (YBCO) film with an additional interlayer from gold (Nb/Au/YBCO) are presented. The CPD measurement is carried out through the radiofrequency superconducting quantum interferometer. The CPD second harmonic is determined in the Nb/Au/YBCO heterotransitions. Possible causes of its appearance are discussed within the frames of the d +- s combined symmetry of the YBCO order parameter. One of the causes of the CPD second harmonic appearance is the twinning of the YBCO films (001). The second cause of existing the anomalously high critical current consists in the availability of the Nb/Au boundary with the transparence of approx 10 sup - sup 1 in the Nb/Au/YBCO

Method of preparing composite superconducting wire

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verhoeven, J. D.; Finnemore, D. K.; Gibson, E. D.; Ostenson, J. E.; Schmidt, F. A.

1985-01-01

An improved method of preparing composite multifilament superconducting wire of Nb 3 Sn in a copper matrix which eliminates the necessity of coating the drawn wire with tin. A generalized cylindrical billet of an alloy of copper containing at least 15 weight percent niobium, present in the copper as discrete, randomly distributed and oriented dendritic-shaped particles, is provided with at least one longitudinal opening which is filled with tin to form a composite drawing rod. The drawing rod is then drawn to form a ductile composite multifilament wire containing a filament of tin. The ductile wire containing the tin can then be wound into magnet coils or other devices before heating to diffuse the tin through the wire to react with the niobium forming Nb 3 Sn. Also described is an improved method for making large billets of the copper-niobium alloy by consumable-arc casting

Plasma treatment of bulk niobium surface for superconducting rf cavities: Optimization of the experimental conditions on flat samples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Rašković

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Accelerator performance, in particular the average accelerating field and the cavity quality factor, depends on the physical and chemical characteristics of the superconducting radio-frequency (SRF cavity surface. Plasma based surface modification provides an excellent opportunity to eliminate nonsuperconductive pollutants in the penetration depth region and to remove the mechanically damaged surface layer, which improves the surface roughness. Here we show that the plasma treatment of bulk niobium (Nb presents an alternative surface preparation method to the commonly used buffered chemical polishing and electropolishing methods. We have optimized the experimental conditions in the microwave glow discharge system and their influence on the Nb removal rate on flat samples. We have achieved an etching rate of 1.7  μm/min⁡ using only 3% chlorine in the reactive mixture. Combining a fast etching step with a moderate one, we have improved the surface roughness without exposing the sample surface to the environment. We intend to apply the optimized experimental conditions to the preparation of single cell cavities, pursuing the improvement of their rf performance.

Nanoscale wedge polishing of superconducting thin films-an easy way to obtain depth dependent information by surface analysis techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shapoval, T; Engel, S; Gruendlich, M; Meier, D; Backen, E; Neu, V; Holzapfel, B; Schultz, L

2008-01-01

A mechanical wedge polishing procedure that offers a simple, cost-effective and rapid way to look into the depth of a thin film with different surface-sensitive scanning techniques has been developed. As an example of its wide applicability, this method was utilized for the investigation of two differently prepared superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ thin films: an Hf-doped film prepared by chemical solution deposition and an undoped film grown by pulsed laser deposition. Upon polishing, the roughness of the samples was reduced to less than 5 nm (peak-to-valley) without influencing the superconducting properties of the films. Thus, nanoscale polishing opens up a unique possibility for microscopic studies with various surface-sensitive techniques. We demonstrate the successful imaging of flux lines by low temperature magnetic force microscopy after polishing a formerly rough as-prepared film. By applying the wedge polishing procedure to the Hf-doped sample, high resolution electron backscattering diffraction investigations reveal the homogeneous distribution of non-superconducting BaHfO 3 nanoparticles in the whole volume of the film

Corrosion of thin, magnetron sputtered Nb_2O_5 films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pillis, Marina Fuser; Geribola, Guilherme Altomari; Scheidt, Guilherme; Gonçalves de Araújo, Edval; Lopes de Oliveira, Mara Cristina; Antunes, Renato Altobelli

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Niobium oxide based films were obtained by DC magnetron sputtering. • Different deposition times were tested. • The best corrosion resistance was obtained for the Nb_2O_5 film produced at 15′. • Film porosity determines the corrosion resistance. - Abstract: Niobium oxide based thin films were deposited on AISI 316 stainless steel substrates using reactive DC magnetron sputtering. Structure, composition and corrosion resistance of the niobium oxide films were studied. The corrosion behavior of the specimens was evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization. The concentration of niobium and oxygen in the films was obtained by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The film structure was analyzed by X-ray diffractometry. The corrosion resistance of the substrate was improved by the Nb_2O_5 layers. The best protective performance was achieved for the deposition time of 15 min.

ECR plasma cleaning for superconducting cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takeuchi, Suehiro [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

2000-02-01

A superconducting linac has been operating well as a heavy ion energy booster of the tandem accelerator at JAERI since 1994. Forty superconducting quarter wave resonators are used in the linac. They have high performances in average. Some of them are, however, suffering from 'Q-disease' that has been caused by hydrogen absorption into niobium during electro-polishing and the precipitation of niobium-hydrides on the surface at the vicinity of about 120K during precooling. A method of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma cleaning was applied to spare resonator in order to investigate if it is useful as a curing method of Q-disease. ECR plasma was excited in the resonator by 2.45 GHz microwave in a magnetic field of about 87.5 mT. In the first preliminary experiments, hydrogen, helium, water and oxigen gases were investigated. Every case was done at a pressure of about 3x10{sup -3} Pa. The results show that apparent recovery from Q-disease was found with helium and oxigen gases. (author)

Investigation of hydrostatic extrusion and other deformation modes for the fabrication of multifilamentary niobium--tin superconductors by a powder metallurgy approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacLeod, G.E.

1977-06-01

Various aspects of a powder metallurgy approach to fabricate filamentary niobium-tin superconducting wire were investigated. Difficulties occurred due to lack of complete tin infiltration of the sintered niobium rod, formation of intermetallics during infiltration, and both cladding and core fracture during mechanical reduction. The influence of sintering time, infiltration temperature, and deformation mode was investigated. Progress is reported on the clarification of the role of several of the important process parameters

Influence of Ta Content in High Purity Niobium on Cavity Performance Preliminary Results*

CERN Document Server

Kneisel, P

2004-01-01

In a previous paper* a program designed to study the influence of the residual tantalum content on the superconducting properties of pure niobium metal for RF cavities was outlined. The main rationale for this program was based on a potential cost reduction for high purity niobium, if a less strict limit on the chemical specification for Ta content, which is not significantly affecting the RRR–value, could be tolerated for high performance cavities. Four ingots with different Ta contents have been melted and transformed into sheets. In each manufacturing step the quality of the material has been monitored by employing chemical analysis, neutron activation analysis, thermal conductivity measurements and evaluation of the mechanical properties. The niobium sheets have been scanned for defects by an eddy current device. From three of the four ingots—Ta contents 100, 600 and 1,200 wppm—two single cell cavities each of the CEBAF variety have been fabricated and a series of tests on each ...

Preparation and characterization of high-Tc superconducting thin films with high critical current densities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vase, P.

1991-08-01

The project was carried out in relation to possible cable and electronics applications of high-T c materials. Laser ablation was used as the deposition technique because of its stoichiometry conservation. Films were made in the YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 compound due to its relatively simple stoichiometry compared to other High-T c compounds. Much attention was paid to the critical current density. A very high critical current density was reached. By using texture analysis by X-ray diffraction, it was found that films with high critical current densities were epitaxial, while films with low critical current densities contained several crystalline orientations. Four techniques for patterning the films were used - photo lithography and wet etch, laser ablation lithography, laser writing and electron beam lithography and ion milling. Sub-micron patterning has been demonstrated without degradation of the superconducting properties. The achieved patterning resolution is sufficient for preparation of many superconducting components. (AB)

Application of High-Temperature Superconducting Thin-Film Devices to Electro-Optical and Electronic Warfare Systems

Science.gov (United States)

1990-02-01

superconducting dispersive (chirp) delay line. Bt currents (IB 1 and 1B 2) control states of write junctions (gates 1 and 2). (Counter) clockwise currents...Gavaler, and "S. A. Reihle, "Superconductive Convolver with June- A. I. Braginski, "Optical Response of Epitaxial Films tion Ring Nlixers," IELT Trans

Model of vortex dynamics in superconducting films in two-coil measurements of the coherence length

Science.gov (United States)

Lemberger, Thomas; Loh, Yen Lee

In two-coil measurements on superconducting films, a magnetic field from a small coil is applied to the center of the film. When the amplitude of the ac field is increased, the film undergoes a transition from the ``Meissner'' state to a state with vortices and antivortices. Ultimately, the vortex density matches the applied magnetic field and field screening is negligible. Experimentally, the field at the transition is related to the superconducting coherence length, although a full theory of the relationship is lacking. We show that the mutual inductance between drive and pickup coils, on opposite sides of the film, as a function of ac field amplitude is well-described by a phenomenological model in which vortices and antivortices appear together in the film at the radius where the induced supercurrent is strongest, and then they move through a landscape of moderately strong vortex pinning sites. Work at OSU supported by DOE-Basic Energy Sciences through Grant No. FG02-08ER46533.

Epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7 films on rolled-textured metals for high temperature superconducting applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norton, D.P.; Park, C.; Prouteau, C.

1998-04-01

The epitaxial growth of high temperature superconducting (HTS) films on rolled-textured metal represents a viable approach for long-length superconducting tapes. Epitaxial, 0.5 microm thick YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 (YBCO) films with critical current densities, J c , greater than 1 MA/cm 2 have been realized on rolled-textured (001) Ni tapes with yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/CeO 2 oxide buffer layers. This paper describes the synthesis using pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) of epitaxial oxide buffer layers on biaxially-textured metal that comprise the so-called rolling-assisted biaxially-textured substrates (RABiTs trademark). The properties of the buffer and YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 films on rolled-textured Ni are discussed, with emphasis given to the crystallographic and microstructural properties that determine the superconducting properties of these multilayer structures

Ductile alloy and process for preparing composite superconducting wire

Science.gov (United States)

Verhoeven, J.D.; Finnemore, D.K.; Gibson, E.D.; Ostenson, J.E.

An alloy for the commercial production of ductile superconducting wire is prepared by melting together copper and at least 15 weight percent niobium under non-oxygen-contaminating conditions, and rapidly cooling the melt to form a ductile composite consisting of discrete, randomly distributed and oriented dendritic-shaped particles of niobium in a copper matrix. As the wire is worked, the dendritic particles are realigned parallel to the longitudinal axis and when drawn form a plurality of very fine ductile superconductors in a ductile copper matrix. The drawn wire may be tin coated and wound into magnets or the like before diffusing the tin into the wire to react with the niobium. Impurities such as aluminum or gallium may be added to improve upper critical field characteristics.

Application of radiofrequency superconductivity to accelerators for high-current ion beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delayen, J.R.; Bohn, C.L.; Kennedy, W.L.; Roche, C.T.; Sagalovsky, L.

1992-01-01

A development program is underway to apply rf superconductivity to the design of continuous-wave (cw) linear accelerators for high-current, high-brightness ion beam. During the last few years, considerable progress has been made both experimentally and theoretically toward this application. Recent tests of niobium resonators for ion acceleration have yielded average accelerating gradients as high as 18 MV/m. In an experiment with a radio-frequency quadrupole geometry, niobium was found to sustain cw peak surface electric fields as high as 128 MV/m over large (10 cm) surface areas. Theoretical studies of beam halo, cumulative beam breakup and alternating-phase focusing have also yielded important results. This paper su-summarizes the recent progress and identifies current and future work in the areas of superconducting accelerator technology for high-current ion beams

Buffered Electrochemical Polishing of Niobium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ciovati, Gianluigi [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Tian, Hui [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (United States); Corcoran, Sean [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)

2011-03-01

The standard preparation of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities made of pure niobium include the removal of a 'damaged' surface layer, by buffered chemical polishing (BCP) or electropolishing (EP), after the cavities are formed. The performance of the cavities is characterized by a sharp degradation of the quality factor when the surface magnetic field exceeds about 90 mT, a phenomenon referred to as 'Q-drop.' In cavities made of polycrystalline fine grain (ASTM 5) niobium, the Q-drop can be significantly reduced by a low-temperature (? 120 °C) 'in-situ' baking of the cavity if the chemical treatment was EP rather than BCP. As part of the effort to understand this phenomenon, we investigated the effect of introducing a polarization potential during buffered chemical polishing, creating a process which is between the standard BCP and EP. While preliminary results on the application of this process to Nb cavities have been previously reported, in this contribution we focus on the characterization of this novel electrochemical process by measuring polarization curves, etching rates, surface finish, electrochemical impedance and the effects of temperature and electrolyte composition. In particular, it is shown that the anodic potential of Nb during BCP reduces the etching rate and improves the surface finish.

Magnetic force acting on a magnetic dipole over a superconducting thin film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, J.C.; Chen, J.L.; Horng, L.; Yang, T.J.

1996-01-01

The magnetostatic interaction energy and corresponding magnetic force acting on a magnetic point dipole placed above a type-II thin superconducting film in the mixed state with a single vortex are calculated using electromagnetics coupled with the London theory of superconductivity. If a vortex is trapped by a circular defect of radius b 1, where a is the separation between the dipole and the thin film, the only difference between two results is in the cutoff length, i.e., in the case of a circular defect the only difference in the critical position calculation is the cutoff at radius b rather than at coherence length ξ. The pinning force of a single vortex by a circular defect is also calculated. Further, we investigate the conditions of the vortex creation for various cases (including the first, second, and third vortices) for a free of pinning center in the examining region. It is found that the creation of a new single vortex in the thin film causes an abrupt change in vertical levitation force: the force changed discontinuously. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society

Molecular-Beam Epitaxially Grown MgB2 Thin Films and Superconducting Tunnel Junctions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Baptiste Laloë

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Since the discovery of its superconducting properties in 2001, magnesium diboride has generated terrific scientific and engineering research interest around the world. With a of 39 K and two superconducting gaps, MgB2 has great promise from the fundamental point of view, as well as immediate applications. Several techniques for thin film deposition and heterojunction formation have been established, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. Here, we will present a brief overview of research based on MgB2 thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy coevaporation of Mg and B. The films are smooth and highly crystalline, and the technique allows for virtually any heterostructure to be formed, including all-MgB2 tunnel junctions. Such devices have been characterized, with both quasiparticle and Josephson tunneling reported. MgB2 remains a material of great potential for a multitude of further characterization and exploration research projects and applications.

Electron scattering rate in epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting films

Science.gov (United States)

Flik, M. I.; Zhang, Z. M.; Goodson, K. E.; Siegal, M. P.; Phillips, Julia M.

1992-09-01

This work determines the electron scattering rate in the a-b plane of epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7 films using two techniques. Infrared spectroscopy yields the scattering rate at temperatures of 10, 78, and 300 K by fitting reflectance data using thin-film optics and a model for the free-carrier conductivity. The scattering rate is also obtained using kinetic theory and an extrapolation of normal-state electrical resistivity data to superconducting temperatures based on the Bloch theory for the phonon-limited electrical resistivity of metals. The scattering rates determined using both techniques are in agreement and show that the electron mean free path in the a-b plane of YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting films is three to four times the coherence length. Hence YBa2Cu3O7 is pure but not in the extreme pure limit. An average defect interaction range of 4 nm is obtained using the defect density resulting from flux-pinning considerations.

Experimental formation of a fractional vortex in a superconducting bi-layer

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Y.; Yamamori, H.; Yanagisawa, T.; Nishio, T.; Arisawa, S.

2018-05-01

We report the experimental formation of a fractional vortex generated by using a thin superconducting bi-layer in the form of a niobium bi-layer, observed as a magnetic flux distribution image taken by a scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) microscope. Thus, we demonstrated that multi-component superconductivity can be realized by an s-wave conventional superconductor, because, in these superconductors, the magnetic flux is no longer quantized as it is destroyed by the existence of an inter-component phase soliton (i-soliton).

Superconductivity effects near metal-insulator transition in granular idnium films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belevtsev, B.I.; Komnik, Yu.F.; Fomin, A.V.

1986-01-01

The influence of granules superconductivity on the electric properties of granular indium films is investigated under the conditions of partial or full granular localization of electrons. At temperatures below 5 K a minimum of electric resistance and negative magnetoresistance are revealed which are attributed to the competition of hopping conductivity and Josephson intergranular tunneling of electrons

The growth of large-area superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-x thin films by pulsed laser ablation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lai, H.C.; Chang, C.M.; Lin, R.J.; Liu, R.S.

1996-01-01

In-situ growth of 2-in. diameter superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x (YBCO) thin films using an excimer KrF pulsed laser has been studied. Films with critical transition temperature (T c,0 ) of 89±1 K and critical current density (J c,77K ) in excess of 1 x 10 6 A cm -2 have been prepared routinely. Uniformity in film thickness of below ±15% and film composition of ±5% have been measured. The effects of gas nozzle geometry and target evolution during ablation on the superconducting properties and surface morphology of YBCO thin films have also been investigated. (orig.)

Study of Nb-oxide Nb-Pb film structures by tunnel scanning microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golyamina, E.M.; Troyanovskij, A.M.

1986-01-01

The surface of niobium films, which were earlier used to create niobium-niobium oxide-lead film structures on their base, was investigated, using tunnel scanning microscope. The results obtained agree well with the observed properties of these structures, containing josephson and tunnel junctions

Thermodiffusion Mo-B-Si coating on VN-3 niobium alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozlov, A.T.; Lazarev, Eh.M.; Monakhova, L.A.; Shestova, V.F.; Romanovich, I.V.

1985-01-01

Protective properties of complex Mo-B-Si-coating on niobium alloy VN-3 (4.7 mass.% Mo, 1.1 mass.% Zr, 0.1 mass.% C) have been studied. It is established, that the complex Mo-B-Si-coating ensures protection from oxidation of niobium alloys in the temperature range of 800-1200 degC for 1000-1500 hr, at 1600 degC - for 10 hr. High heat resistance of Mo-B-Si - coating at 800-1200 degC is determined by the presence of amorphous film of SiOΛ2 over the layer MoSiΛ2 and barrier boride layer on the boundary with the metal protected; decrease in the coating heat resistance at 1600 degC is related to the destruction of boride layer, decomposition of MoSiΛ2 for lower cilicides and loosening of SiOΛ2 film

Niobium oxide nanocolumns formed via anodic alumina with modulated pore diameters

Science.gov (United States)

Pligovka, A.; Zakhlebayeva, A.; Lazavenka, A.

2018-03-01

Niobium oxide nanocolumns with modulated diameters were formed for the first time. An Al/Nb bilayer specimen was prepared by successive sputter-deposition of 300 nm niobium layer and 1200 nm aluminum layer onto silicon wafer. Regular anodic alumina matrix with modulated pore diameters was formed by sequential anodization of initial specimen in tartaric acid at 180 V, and in oxalic acid at 37 V. Further potentiodynamic reanodization of the specimen up to 400 V causes the simultaneous growth of 440 nm continuous niobium oxide layer beneath the alumina film and two types of an array of oxide nanocolumns (thick – with 100 nm width and 630 nm high and thin – with 25 nm width and 170 nm high), which are the filling of the alumina pores. The morphology of the formed anodic niobium oxide nanocolumns with modulated diameters was determined by field emission scanning electron microscopy. The formed nanostructures can be used for perspective devices of nano- and optoelectronics such as photonic crystals.

Measurement of the magnetic penetration depth in p-doped superconducting diamond films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fuchs, Lorenz; Brunner, Markus C.P.; Schneider, Ina; Kronfeldner, Klaus [University of Regensburg (Germany); Bousquet, Jessica; Bustarret, Etienne; Strunk, Christoph [Institut Neel, Grenoble (France)

2016-07-01

Boron-doped diamond becomes superconducting once a critical doping concentration of 4.5 x 10{sup 20} cm{sup -3} is reached. Mutual inductance measurements with a two-coil setup have been performed to determine the magnetic penetration depth λ(T), which is a measure for the superfluid stiffnes θ ∝ 1/λ{sup 2}(T). Two superconducting p-doped diamond films with thicknesses of 145 nm and 345 nm were investigated. At low temperatures these values agree reasonably with the values expected within BCS-theory using T{sub c}, carrier density and mean free path determined from electric transport measurements. Magnetic penetration depths of 3.7 μm for the thinner and 2.6 μm for the thicker film have been found. λ decreases and accordingly θ increases with increasing film thickness. On the other hand, the superfluid stiffness drops by a factor of 2 or even more at T{sub c}/2, i.e., much faster than expected from BCS-theory, but remains finite between T{sub c}/2 < T < T{sub c}. At present it is unclear, whether this behavior results from the proliferation of phase fluctuations already far below T{sub c} or from a spatial inhomogeneity of the films.

Enhanced superconductivity and superconductor to insulator transition in nano-crystalline molybdenum thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharma, Shilpam; Amaladass, E.P. [Condensed Matter Physics Division, Materials Science Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102 (India); Sharma, Neha [Surface & Nanoscience Division, Materials Science Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102 (India); Harimohan, V. [Condensed Matter Physics Division, Materials Science Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102 (India); Amirthapandian, S. [Materials Physics Division, Materials Science Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102 (India); Mani, Awadhesh, E-mail: mani@igcar.gov.in [Condensed Matter Physics Division, Materials Science Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102 (India)

2017-06-01

Disorder driven superconductor to insulator transition via intermediate metallic regime is reported in nano-crystalline thin films of molybdenum. The nano-structured thin films have been deposited at room temperature using DC magnetron sputtering at different argon pressures. The grain size has been tuned using deposition pressure as the sole control parameter. A variation of particle sizes, room temperature resistivity and superconducting transition has been studied as a function of deposition pressure. The nano-crystalline molybdenum thin films are found to have large carrier concentration but very low mobility and electronic mean free path. Hall and conductivity measurements have been used to understand the effect of disorder on the carrier density and mobilities. Ioffe-Regel parameter is shown to correlate with the continuous metal-insulator transition in our samples. - Highlights: • Thin films of molybdenum using DC sputtering have been deposited on glass. • Argon background pressure during sputtering was used to tune the crystallite sizes of films. • Correlation in deposition pressure, disorder and particle sizes has been observed. • Disorder tuned superconductor to insulator transition along with an intermediate metallic phase has been observed. • Enhancement of superconducting transition temperature and a dome shaped T{sub C} vs. deposition pressure phase diagram has been observed.

Strong Meissner screening change in superconducting radio frequency cavities due to mild baking

Science.gov (United States)

Romanenko, A.; Grassellino, A.; Barkov, F.; Suter, A.; Salman, Z.; Prokscha, T.

2014-02-01

We investigate "hot" regions with anomalous high field dissipation in bulk niobium superconducting radio frequency cavities for particle accelerators by using low energy muon spin rotation (LE-μSR) on corresponding cavity cutouts. We demonstrate that superconducting properties at the hot region are well described by the non-local Pippard/BCS model for niobium in the clean limit with a London penetration depth λL=23±2 nm. In contrast, a cutout sample from the 120 ∘C baked cavity shows a much larger λ >100 nm and a depth dependent mean free path, likely due to gradient in vacancy concentration. We suggest that these vacancies can efficiently trap hydrogen and hence prevent the formation of hydrides responsible for rf losses in hot regions.

Vortex imaging in superconducting films by scanning Hall probe microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oral, A.; Bending, S.J.; Humphreys, R.G.

1996-01-01

The authors have used a low noise Scanning Hall Probe Microscope (SHPM) to study vortex structures in superconducting films. The microscope has high magnetic field (∼2.9 x 10 -8 T/√Hz at 77K) and spatial resolution, ∼0.85 μm. Magnetic field profiles of single vortices in High T c YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ thin films have been successfully measured and the microscopic penetration depth of the superconductor has been extracted as a function of temperature. Flux penetration into the superconductor has been imaged in real time (∼8s/frame)

Y1Ba2Cu3O(7-delta) thin film dc SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference device)

Science.gov (United States)

Racah, Daniel

1991-03-01

Direct current superconducting quantum interferometers (SQUIDs) based on HTSC thin films have been measured and characterized. The thin films used were of different quality: (1) Granular films on Sapphire substrates, prepared either by e-gun evaporation, by laser ablation or by MOCVD (metal oxide chemical vapor deposition), (2) Epitaxial films on MgO substrates. Modulations of the voltage on the SQUIDs as a function of the applied flux have been observed in a wide range of temperatures. The nature of the modulation was found to be strongly dependent on the morphology of the film and on its critical current. The SQUIDs based on granular films were relatively noisy, hysteretic and with a complicated V-phi shape. Those devices based on low quality (lowIc) granular films could be measured only at low temperatures (much lower than 77 K). While those of higher quality (granular films with high Ic) could be measured near to the superconductive transition. The SQUID based on high quality epitaxial film was measured near Tc and showed an anomalous, time dependent behavior.

SUPERCONDUCTING LINAC FOR THE SPALLATION NEUTRON SOURCE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

STOVALL, J.; NATH, S.

2000-01-01

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) linac is comprised of both normal and superconducting rf (SRF) accelerating structures. The SRF linac accelerates the beam from 186 to 1250 MeV through 117 elliptical, multi-cell niobium cavities. This paper describes the SRF linac architecture, physics design considerations, cavity commissioning, and the expected beam dynamics performance

Transport in reversibly laser-modified YBa2Cu3O/sub 7-//sub x/ superconducting thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)