Niobium–tin
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Niobium–tin is an
intermetallic An intermetallic (also called an intermetallic compound, intermetallic alloy, ordered intermetallic alloy, and a long-range-ordered alloy) is a type of metallic alloy that forms an ordered solid-state compound between two or more metallic eleme ...
compound of
niobium Niobium is a chemical element with chemical symbol Nb (formerly columbium, Cb) and atomic number 41. It is a light grey, crystalline, and ductile transition metal. Pure niobium has a Mohs hardness rating similar to pure titanium, and it has sim ...
(Nb) and
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
(Sn), used industrially as a
type II superconductor In superconductivity, a type-II superconductor is a superconductor that exhibits an intermediate phase of mixed ordinary and superconducting properties at intermediate temperature and fields above the superconducting phases. It also features the ...
. This intermetallic compound has a simple structure: A3B. It is more expensive than
niobium–titanium Niobium–titanium (Nb-Ti) is an alloy of niobium and titanium, used industrially as a type II superconductor wire for superconducting magnets, normally as Nb-Ti fibres in an aluminium or copper matrix. Its critical temperature is about 10 kel ...
(NbTi), but remains superconducting up to a
magnetic flux density A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...
of , compared to a limit of roughly 15 T for NbTi. Nb3Sn was discovered to be a superconductor in 1954. The material's ability to support high currents and magnetic fields was discovered in 1961 and started the era of large-scale applications of superconductivity. The
critical temperature Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine *Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing in ...
is . Application temperatures are commonly around , the boiling point of
liquid helium Liquid helium is a physical state of helium at very low temperatures at standard atmospheric pressures. Liquid helium may show superfluidity. At standard pressure, the chemical element helium exists in a liquid form only at the extremely low temp ...
at atmospheric pressure. In April 2008 a record non-copper
current density In electromagnetism, current density is the amount of charge per unit time that flows through a unit area of a chosen cross section. The current density vector is defined as a vector whose magnitude is the electric current per cross-sectional ar ...
was claimed of 2,643 A mm−2 at 12 T and 4.2 K.


History

Nb3Sn was discovered to be a superconductor in 1954, one year after the discovery of V3Si, the first example of an A3B superconductor. In 1961 it was discovered that niobium–tin still exhibits superconductivity at large currents and strong magnetic fields, thus becoming the first known material to support the high currents and fields necessary for making useful high-power magnets and electric power
machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecule ...
.


Notable uses

The central
solenoid upright=1.20, An illustration of a solenoid upright=1.20, Magnetic field created by a seven-loop solenoid (cross-sectional view) described using field lines A solenoid () is a type of electromagnet formed by a helix, helical coil of wire whose ...
and toroidal field
superconducting magnet A superconducting magnet is an electromagnet made from coils of superconducting wire. They must be cooled to cryogenic temperatures during operation. In its superconducting state the wire has no electrical resistance and therefore can conduct mu ...
s for the planned experimental
ITER ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ''iter'' meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy by replicating, on Earth ...
fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
reactor use niobium–tin as a superconductor. The central solenoid coil will produce a field of . The toroidal field coils will operate at a maximum field of 11.8 T. Estimated use is of Nb3Sn strands and 250 metric tonnes of NbTi strands. At the
Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and hundred ...
at
CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
, extra-strong quadrupole magnets (for focussing beams) made with niobium–tin are being installed in key points of the accelerator between late 2018 and early 2020. Niobium tin had been proposed in 1986 as an alternative to
niobium–titanium Niobium–titanium (Nb-Ti) is an alloy of niobium and titanium, used industrially as a type II superconductor wire for superconducting magnets, normally as Nb-Ti fibres in an aluminium or copper matrix. Its critical temperature is about 10 kel ...
, since it allowed coolants less complex than superfluid helium, but this was not pursued in order to avoid delays while competing with the then-planned US-led
Superconducting Super Collider The Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) (also nicknamed the desertron) was a particle accelerator complex under construction in the vicinity of Waxahachie, Texas. Its planned ring circumference was with an energy of 20 TeV per proton and was ...
.


Niobium tin composite wire

Mechanically, Nb3Sn is extremely
brittle A material is brittle if, when subjected to stress, it fractures with little elastic deformation and without significant plastic deformation. Brittle materials absorb relatively little energy prior to fracture, even those of high strength. Bre ...
and thus cannot be easily drawn into a wire, which is necessary for winding
superconducting magnet A superconducting magnet is an electromagnet made from coils of superconducting wire. They must be cooled to cryogenic temperatures during operation. In its superconducting state the wire has no electrical resistance and therefore can conduct mu ...
s. To overcome this, wire manufacturers typically draw down composite wires containing ductile precursors. The "internal tin" process includes separate alloys of Nb, Cu and Sn. The "bronze" process contains Nb in a
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
–tin
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
matrix. With both processes the strand is typically drawn to final size and coiled into a solenoid or cable ''before'' heat treatment. It is only during heat treatment that the Sn reacts with the Nb to form the brittle, superconducting niobium–tin compound. The
powder-in-tube Superconducting wires are electrical wires made of superconductive material. When cooled below their transition temperatures, they have zero electrical resistance. Most commonly, conventional superconductors such as niobium-titanium are used, ...
process is also used. The high field section of modern
NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with ...
magnets are composed of niobium–tin wire.


Strain effects

Inside a magnet the wires are subjected to high
Lorentz force In physics (specifically in electromagnetism) the Lorentz force (or electromagnetic force) is the combination of electric and magnetic force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields. A particle of charge moving with a velocity in an elect ...
s as well as thermal stresses during cooling. Any
strain Strain may refer to: Science and technology * Strain (biology), variants of plants, viruses or bacteria; or an inbred animal used for experimental purposes * Strain (chemistry), a chemical stress of a molecule * Strain (injury), an injury to a mu ...
in the niobium tin causes a decrease in the superconducting performance of the material, and can cause the brittle material to fracture. Because of this, the wires need to be as stiff as possible. The
Young’s modulus Young's modulus E, the Young modulus, or the modulus of elasticity in tension or compression (i.e., negative tension), is a mechanical property that measures the tensile or compressive stiffness of a solid material when the force is applied len ...
of niobium tin is around 140 GPa at room temperature. However, the stiffness drops down to as low as 50 GPa when the material is cooled below . Engineers must therefore find ways of improving the strength of the material. Strengthening fibers are often incorporated in the composite niobium tin wires to increase their stiffness. Common strengthening materials include
Inconel Inconel is a registered trademark of Special Metals Corporation for a family of austenitic nickel-chromium-based superalloys. Inconel alloys are oxidation-corrosion-resistant materials well suited for service in extreme environments subjected t ...
,
stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
,
molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lea ...
, and
tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that is ...
because of their high stiffness at cryogenic temperatures. Since the thermal expansion coefficients of the matrix, fiber, and niobium tin are all different, significant amounts of strain can be generated after the wire is annealed and cooled all the way down to operating temperatures. This strain is referred to as the pre-strain in the wire. Since any strain in the niobium tin generally decreases the superconducting performance of the material, a proper combination of materials must be used to minimize this value. The pre-strain in a composite wire can be calculated by the formula :\varepsilon _=\frac. where εm is the pre-strain, ΔL/Lc and ΔL/Lf are changes in length due to thermal expansion of the niobium tin conduit and strengthening fiber respectively; Vc, Vf, Vcu, and Vbz are the volume fractions of conduit, fiber, copper, and bronze; σcu,y, and σbz,y are the yield stresses of copper and bronze; and Ec, and Ef are the Young’s modulus of the conduit and the fiber. Since the copper and bronze matrix deforms plastically during cooldown, they apply a constant stress equal to their yield stress. The conduit and fiber, however, deform elastically by design. Commercial superconductors manufactured by the bronze process generally have a pre-strain value around 0.2% to 0.4%. The so-called strain effect causes a reduction in the superconducting properties of many materials including niobium tin. The critical strain, the maximum allowable strain over which superconductivity is lost, is given by the formula :\varepsilon _c=\varepsilon_\. where εc is the critical strain, εco is a material dependent parameter equal to 1.5% in tension (−1.8% in compression) for niobium tin, B is the applied magnetic field, and Bc2m is the maximum
upper critical field For a given temperature, the critical field refers to the maximum magnetic field strength below which a material remains superconducting. Superconductivity is characterized both by perfect conductivity (zero resistance) and by the complete expulsio ...
of the material. Strain in the niobium tin causes tetragonal distortions in the crystal lattice, which changes the electron-phonon interaction spectrum. This is equivalent to an increase in disorder in the A15 crystal structure. At high enough strain, around 1%, the niobium tin conduit will develop fractures and the current carrying capability of the wire will be irreversibly damaged. In most circumstances, except for high field conditions, the niobium tin conduit will fracture before the critical strain is reached.


Developments and future uses

Hafnium Hafnium is a chemical element with the symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in many zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dmitri M ...
or
zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'', ...
added to niobium–tin increases the maximum current density in a magnetic field. This may allow it to be used at 16 tesla for CERN’s planned
Future Circular Collider The Future Circular Collider (FCC) is a proposed particle accelerator with an energy significantly above that of previous circular colliders, such as the Super Proton Synchrotron, the Tevatron, and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The FCC pro ...
.''MagLab awarded $1.5M by U.S. Department of Energy to develop better superconductors'' July 2020
/ref>


See also

*
Niobium–titanium Niobium–titanium (Nb-Ti) is an alloy of niobium and titanium, used industrially as a type II superconductor wire for superconducting magnets, normally as Nb-Ti fibres in an aluminium or copper matrix. Its critical temperature is about 10 kel ...
, more ductile than Nb-Sn


References


External links


European Advanced Superconductors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niobium-tin Superconductors Niobium compounds Tin compounds Intermetallics