New developments in niobium titanium superconductors

After a very active period of niobium titanium superconductor strand development in the mid 1980s, progress slowed as the SSC scaled up for production and emphasis moved towards guaranteeing, rather than enhancing performance. However, this period also produced several advances in the understanding of flux pinning in niobium titanium alloys and in the fabrication of composites containing artificial pinning centers (APC). This paper reviews some of this progress and attempts to assess its implications for future accelerator conductors.