High critical current densities in industrial scale composites made from high homogeneity Nb 46.5 Ti

Recent work in our group on the fabricationmicrostructure-superconducting properties of composites of Nb-Ti has produced much new information about the precipitate morphology and origins of high critical current density (J /SUB c/ ) in these materials./sup 1 -4/ Precipitation of Ti-rich phase is seen to commence as a grain boundary film 2 - 4 nm thick, the film then developing into approximately equiaxed particles of ..cap alpha..-Ti at the boundary triple points. The typical size of such precipitates is 50 - 100 nm. Controlled drawing of such a structure produces an array of locally ordered ribbon precipitates. These precipitates are typically 3 - 5 nm thick by 100 - 300 nm long (when observed in transverse section). Their length in longitudinal section appears to be several hundred nm, indicating great ductility in these small ..cap alpha..-Ti precipitates. The typical separation of the precipitates is 20 - 30 nm. Thus the dimensions of the precipitate array are quite comparable to that of the flux lattice since the fluxoid separation is 22 nm at 5 T and the fluxoid diameter of Nb 46.5 wt% Ti is approximately 10 nm. The flux pinning behavior of these precipitate structures is expected to be complex:more » /SUP 2.4/ the defect density is very high, the precipitate morphology has a very high aspect ratio and the extreme thinness of the precipitates must permit some superconductivity to be induced in them by the proximity effect./sup 5/« less