We have experimentally studied the magnetic shielding properties of a cylindrical shell of BiPbSrCaCuO subjected to low frequency AC axial magnetic fields. The magnetic response has been investigated as a function of the dimensions of the tube, the magnitude of the applied field and the frequency. These results are explained quantitatively by employing the method of Brandt (1998 Phys. Rev. B 58 6506) with a Jc(B) law appropriate for a polycrystalline material. Specifically, we observe that the applied field can sweep into the central region either through the thickness of the shield or through the opening ends, the latter mechanism being suppressed for long tubes. For the first time, we systematically detail the spatial variation of the shielding factor (the ratio of the applied field over the internal magnetic field) along the axis of a high-temperature superconducting tube. The shielding factor is shown to be constant in a region around the centre of the tube, and to decrease as an exponential in the vicinity of the ends. This spatial dependence comes from the competition between two mechanisms of field penetration. The frequency dependence of the shielding factor is also discussed and shown to follow a power law arising from the finite creep exponent n.

Magnetic shielding properties of high-temperature superconducting tubes subjected to axial fields

The paper describes the development and the experimental validation of a cryogenic magnetic shielding system for transition edge sensor based space detector arrays. The system consists of an outer mu-metal shield and an inner superconducting niobium shield. First, a basic comparison is made between thin-walled mu-metal and superconducting shields, giving an off-axis expression for the field inside a cup-shaped superconductor as a function of the transverse external field. Starting from these preliminary analytical considerations, the design of an adequate and realistic shielding configuration for future space flight applications (either X-IFU [D. Barret et al., e-print arXiv:1308.6784 [astro-ph.IM] (2013)] or SAFARI [B. Jackson et al., IEEE Trans. Terahertz Sci. Technol. 2, 12 (2012)]) is described in more detail. The numerical design and verification tools (static and dynamic finite element method (FEM) models) are discussed together with their required input, i.e., the magnetic-field dependent permeability data. Next, the actual manufacturing of the shields is described, including a method to create a superconducting joint between the two superconducting shield elements that avoid flux penetration through the seam. The final part of the paper presents the experimental verification of the model predictions and the validation of the shield's performance. The shields were cooled through the superconducting transition temperature of niobium in zero applied magnetic field (<10 nT) or in a DC field with magnitude ∼100 μT, applied either along the system's symmetry axis or perpendicular to it. After cool-down, DC trapped flux profiles were measured along the shield axis with a flux-gate magnetometer and the attenuation of externally applied AC fields (100 μT, 0.1 Hz, both axial and transverse) was verified along this axis with superconducting quantum interference device magnetometers. The system's measured on-axis shielding factor is greater than 106, well exceeding the requirement of the envisaged missions. Following field-cooling in an axial field of 85 μT, the residual internal DC field normal to the detector plane is less than 1 μT. The trapped field patterns are compared to the predictions of the dynamic FEM model, which describes them well in the region where the internal field exceeds 6 μT.

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Design and validation of a large-format transition edge sensor array magnetic shielding system for space application.

Shielding charged particle beams from transverse magnetic fields is a common challenge for particle accelerators and experiments. We demonstrate that a magnetic field cloak is a viable solution. It allows for the use of dipole magnets in the forward regions of experiments at an Electron Ion Collider (EIC) and other facilities without interfering with the incoming beams. The dipoles can improve the momentum measurements of charged final state particles at angles close to the beam line and therefore increase the physics reach of these experiments. In contrast to other magnetic shielding options (such as active coils), a cloak requires no external powering. We discuss the design parameters, fabrication, and limitations of a magnetic field cloak and demonstrate that cylinders made from 45 layers of YBCO high-temperature superconductor, combined with a ferromagnetic shell made from epoxy and stainless steel powder, shield more than 99% of a transverse magnetic field of up to 0.45 T (95% shielding at 0.5 T) at liquid nitrogen temperature. The ferromagnetic shell reduces field distortions caused by the superconductor alone by 90% at 0.45 T.

A magnetic field cloak for charged particle beams

This study investigated the magnetic shielding performance of various configurations of superconducting cylinders based on high temperature superconducting Coated Conductor (CC) tapes. We applied ac magnetic fields with various frequencies and amplitudes to superconducting cylinders with CC tapes. The magnetic shielding performances of the cylinders with a variety of layer number and length of the cylinder were compared. We also performed the numerical simulations, and got the same tendency as the experimental results. We clarified that the shielding factor lineally increases with the layer number of the CC tape. More than five layers of the CC tape wound with the same orientation and angle to cover the gaps of an inner layer achieves 98% attenuation of the magnetic field. However, the simulation and experimental results show that shielding factor is not greatly improved by increasing the length of the cylinder due to the magnetic field penetration from the gaps between each winding of the CC tape. This study demonstrates a good possibility and also the limitation to use CC tapes for the magnetic shielding.

Experimental and numerical investigation of shielding performance of superconducting magnetic shields using coated conductor tapes

Magnetic shielding properties of second generation (2G) YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting tape were characterized in the temperature range of 40-77 K. Description of the apparatus that enabled variable temperature shielding property measurements is presented. Temperature stability of ±1 K was achieved using a combination of conductive thermal anchor of the shields to the cryocooler cold head and helium gas environment. Lower temperatures resulted in significant enhancement in shielding properties. Shielding factors of up to 95% were achieved for both DC and AC magnetic fields by using shields consisting of multiple layers of 2G tape in sheet and coil configurations. Effect of frequency, temperature and number of layers on the shielding efficacy is presented.

Characterization of 2G Superconductor Magnetic Shields at 40–77 K

Magnetic shielding and harmonic generation in a sintered Y1Ba2Cu3O7-x tube, subjected to an incident AC magnetic field, has been studied. This study has shown that the onset of superconductivity in the specimen introduces a magnetic shielding of about 25 dB. Odd harmonics are generated during the propagation of the AC magnetic field. Flux trapping occurs in the specimen for frequencies less than 10 kHz. This trapped flux behaves as a superimposed DC magnetic field and results in a low shielding effectiveness and generation of even harmonics in the transmitted waveform.

J Karthikeyan

Papers

Magnetic shielding and harmonic generation in high-Tc superconducting tubes