Experimental Investigation of the Minimum Propagation Currents and Quench Characteristics of LTS/HTS Hybrid Conductors

An increase in minimum propagation currents of low temperature superconducting (LTS) NbTi/Cu conductor has been observed when high temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes are used as stabilizers. This kind of superconductor is being called an LTS/HTS hybrid conductor. The objective of the LTS/HTS conductor concept is to extend the basic research of cryogenic stability of LTS conductors such as stabilized with pure aluminum. Short samples of a NbTi/Cu conductor, a NbTi/Cu/Al conductor, and the NbTi/Cu/HTS conductors have been prepared and tested successfully, and the differences in the cryogenic stability were investigated.