A Variable Temperature Walters Spiral Probe for the Critical Current Measurement of Superconducting Strands

We have developed a probe for the critical current measurements of low temperature superconducting strands at various field, temperature and strain. A 30 cm-long strand sample is soldered on a Walters spiral made of beryllium copper alloy and compressive or tensile axial strain can be applied up to 0.7%. Temperature control ability was tested using a MgB₂ wire up to 30 K. Three cernox sensors are attached on a spiral adjacent to the strand and the temperature of the spiral is controlled within plusmn50 mK of target temperature during the critical current measurement up to 80 A. Extensive critical current measurements have been carried out for an internal-tin processed Nb₃Sn strand. It was found that the measured field, temperature and strain dependence of the critical current for the internal-tin Nb₃Sn strand is in agreement with the recent scaling law based on strong coupling theory of superconductivity.