Common Rectifier Diodes in Thermal Stability Characterization Measurements

In our previous work, we presented that common rectifier diodes can be used to measure changes in temperature quite accurately and fast. In this publication, we study the feasibility of such devices in stability measurements. We present minimum quench energy and normal zone propagation measurement results for a MgB₂ conductor. We used two different approaches for detecting the quench frontier, i.e., voltage taps and the diodes. To obtain a computational reference, we used a 1-D finite element method for simulating quench propagation and onset for the conductors. The differences between both types of measurements and computations are thus scrutinized. In addition, we study the effect of the sensor encapsulation on the transient response time and thus on the results of stability characterization.