Origin of the enhanced Nb3Sn performance by combined Hf and Ta doping
<p>In recent years there has been an increasing effort in improving the performance of Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn for high-field applications, in particular for the fabrication of conductors suitable for the realization of the Future Circular Collider (FCC) at CERN. This challenging task has...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2021
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| _version_ | 1797088413901389824 |
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| author | Tarantini, C Kametani, F Balachandran, S Heald, SM Wheatley, L Grovenor, CRM Moody, MP Su, Y-F Lee, PJ Larbalestier, DC |
| author_facet | Tarantini, C Kametani, F Balachandran, S Heald, SM Wheatley, L Grovenor, CRM Moody, MP Su, Y-F Lee, PJ Larbalestier, DC |
| author_sort | Tarantini, C |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>In recent years there has been an increasing effort in improving the performance of Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn for high-field applications, in particular for the fabrication of conductors suitable for the realization of the Future Circular Collider (FCC) at CERN. This challenging task has led to the investigation of new routes to advance the high-field pinning properties, the irreversibility and the upper critical fields (<em>H</em><sub><em>Irr</em></sub> and <em>H</em><sub><em>c2</em></sub>, respectively). The effect of hafnium addition to the standard Nb-4Ta alloy has been recently demonstrated to be particularly promising and, in this paper, we investigate the origins of the observed improvements of the superconducting properties. Electron microscopy, Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy (EXAFS) and Atom Probe Tomography (APT) characterization clearly show that, in presence of oxygen, both fine Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn grains and HfO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles form. Although EXAFS is unable to detect significant amounts of Hf in the A15 structure, APT does indeed reveal some residual intragrain metallic Hf. To investigate the layer properties in more detail, we created a microbridge from a thin lamella extracted by Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and measured the transport properties of Ta-Hf-doped Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn. <em>H</em><sub><em>c2</em></sub>(0) is enhanced to 30.8 T by the introduction of Hf, ~ 1 T higher than those of only Ta-doped Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn, and, even more importantly the position of the pinning force maximum exceeds 6 T, against the typical ~ 4.5–4.7 T of the only Ta-doped material. These results show that the improvements generated by Hf addition can significantly enhance the high-field performance, bringing Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn closer to the requirements necessary for FCC realization.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:49:44Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:ad417cc2-abef-4355-a14f-33f7005166a8 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:49:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:ad417cc2-abef-4355-a14f-33f7005166a82022-03-27T03:34:34ZOrigin of the enhanced Nb3Sn performance by combined Hf and Ta dopingJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ad417cc2-abef-4355-a14f-33f7005166a8EnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer Nature2021Tarantini, CKametani, FBalachandran, SHeald, SMWheatley, LGrovenor, CRMMoody, MPSu, Y-FLee, PJLarbalestier, DC<p>In recent years there has been an increasing effort in improving the performance of Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn for high-field applications, in particular for the fabrication of conductors suitable for the realization of the Future Circular Collider (FCC) at CERN. This challenging task has led to the investigation of new routes to advance the high-field pinning properties, the irreversibility and the upper critical fields (<em>H</em><sub><em>Irr</em></sub> and <em>H</em><sub><em>c2</em></sub>, respectively). The effect of hafnium addition to the standard Nb-4Ta alloy has been recently demonstrated to be particularly promising and, in this paper, we investigate the origins of the observed improvements of the superconducting properties. Electron microscopy, Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy (EXAFS) and Atom Probe Tomography (APT) characterization clearly show that, in presence of oxygen, both fine Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn grains and HfO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles form. Although EXAFS is unable to detect significant amounts of Hf in the A15 structure, APT does indeed reveal some residual intragrain metallic Hf. To investigate the layer properties in more detail, we created a microbridge from a thin lamella extracted by Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and measured the transport properties of Ta-Hf-doped Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn. <em>H</em><sub><em>c2</em></sub>(0) is enhanced to 30.8 T by the introduction of Hf, ~ 1 T higher than those of only Ta-doped Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn, and, even more importantly the position of the pinning force maximum exceeds 6 T, against the typical ~ 4.5–4.7 T of the only Ta-doped material. These results show that the improvements generated by Hf addition can significantly enhance the high-field performance, bringing Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn closer to the requirements necessary for FCC realization.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Tarantini, C Kametani, F Balachandran, S Heald, SM Wheatley, L Grovenor, CRM Moody, MP Su, Y-F Lee, PJ Larbalestier, DC Origin of the enhanced Nb3Sn performance by combined Hf and Ta doping |
| title | Origin of the enhanced Nb3Sn performance by combined Hf and Ta doping |
| title_full | Origin of the enhanced Nb3Sn performance by combined Hf and Ta doping |
| title_fullStr | Origin of the enhanced Nb3Sn performance by combined Hf and Ta doping |
| title_full_unstemmed | Origin of the enhanced Nb3Sn performance by combined Hf and Ta doping |
| title_short | Origin of the enhanced Nb3Sn performance by combined Hf and Ta doping |
| title_sort | origin of the enhanced nb3sn performance by combined hf and ta doping |
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