Measurement of Losses of Current Leads With Bi2223/Ag Tape Conductors Above Liquid Nitrogen Temperature

We measured the heat flow of current leads used for high-Tc superconducting apparatuses operating at liquid nitrogen temperature by the nitrogen boil-off method. To reduce the heat flow at the cold end of the current leads, the use of commercial Bi2223 silver-sheathed (Bi2223/Ag) tape conductors for current leads above liquid nitrogen temperature was also studied. We derived average Lorenz numbers between room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature from the measurement results to assess the performance of the current leads. We tested Bi2223/Ag-soldered oxygen-free copper leads and obtained slightly lower heat flows and average Lorenz numbers than those of solid copper leads. The average Lorenz numbers of copper alloys were measured as well.