A review and prospects for Nb3Sn superconductor development

Nb3Sn superconductors have significant applications in constructing high-field (> 10 T) magnets. This article briefly reviews development of Nb3Sn superconductor and proposes prospects for further improvement. It is shown that significant improvement of critical current density (J(c)) is needed for future accelerator magnets. After a brief review of the development of Nb3Sn superconductors, the factors controlling J(c) are summarized and correlated with their microstructure and chemistry. The non-matrix J(c) of Nb3Sn conductors is mainly determined by three factors: the fraction of current-carrying Nb3Sn phase in the non-matrix area, the upper critical field B-c2, and the flux line pinning capacity. Then prospects to improve the three factors are discussed respectively. An analytic model was developed to show how the ratios of precursors determine the phase fractions after heat treatment, based on which it is predicted that the limit of current-carrying Nb3Sn fraction in subelements is similar to 65%. Then, since B-c2 is largely determined by the Nb3Sn stoichiometry, a thermodynamic/kinetic theory is presented to show what essentially determines the Sn content of Nb3Sn conductors. This theory explains the influences of Sn sources and Ti addition on stoichiometry and growth rate of Nb3Sn layers. Next, to improve flux pinning, previous efforts in this community to introduce additional pinning centers to Nb3Sn wires are reviewed, and an internal oxidation technique is described. Finally, prospects for further improvement of non-matrix J(c) of Nb3Sn conductors are discussed, and it is seen that the only opportunity for further significantly improving J(c) lies in improving flux pinning.