Variable composition NbTi superconductors produced by artificial pinning center process

An artificial pinning center (APC) process, that utilizes pure niobium and titanium as the starting material, has been used to manufacture NbTi superconductors. The Ti content has been varied from 45.4wt% to 59.3wt% by adjusting the relative thicknesses of the Nb and Ti sheets in the starting monofilaments. Any composition can be produced in this manner, as compared to the conventional alloy which is commercially available in only one composition. The higher Ti content is designed to improve critical current density (J/sub c/s) in the low field range (<5T) and lower raw material costs, thus reducing the overall cost to the end user. The APC process does not suffer from the poorer ductility of the conventional NbTi approach when utilizing higher Ti content alloys. The new conductors would be suitable for applications such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) and detector magnets.