Development of vapor-cooled HTS-copper 6-kA current lead incorporating operation in the current-sharing mode Original Research Article

This paper presents the design and performance results of a pair of 6-kA high-temperature superconducting (HTS)-copper current leads, in which, over a short length at the warm end (e.g., 77 K) of each HTS section, comprised of paralleled Bi-2223/Ag–Au tapes, is operated in the current-sharing mode. Because of their reliance on vapor cooling, the leads are applicable only to liquid helium-cooled superconducting magnets such as those used in high-energy physics accelerators and fusion machines. The experimental measurements have demonstrated that key performance data of the new 6-kA HTS-copper leads agree reasonably well with those expected from design.