| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/D002877/1 |
| Title: |
An experimental investigation of vortex cutting and cross-joining in superconductors |
| Principal Investigator: |
Blamire, Professor M |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Materials Science & Metallurgy |
| Organisation: |
University of Cambridge |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 October 2005 |
Ends: |
30 September 2008 |
Value (£): |
212,482
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Materials Characterisation |
Materials Synthesis & Growth |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Magnetic flux within type II superconductors is quantised into Abrikosov vortices. A vortex can be imagined as a thin tube with a diameter of tens of nanometres within which the magnetic field is confined and superconductivity is suppressed. All practical superconductors designed for carrying large electrical currents have to contain sufficient microstructural defects (pinning centres) to prevent the motion of these flux vortices under the Lorentz force between magnetic fields and currents. The conventional understanding of vortices in these systems is of an array of more or less parallel vortices which are locally perturbed by interaction with these pinning centres. This project focuses on the behaviour of vortices under circumstances in which they are not parallel and the possibility exists of their interacting by tangling with each other. In this state they could merge at their cross-over points and possibly separate again, either in their original forms but having passed through each other, or having cross-joined to form two new vortices each of which contains segments originating from both parent vortices. This process, which has been analysed theoretically for many years, is known as vortex cutting. This project is aimed at understanding vortex cutting using a unique experimental system which will involve the three-dimensional patterning of multilayer thin films which incorporate low pinning layers within a high pinning matrix. We can therefore study vortices which are fixed over most of their length, but which can interact within the low pinning layers with each other and with the applied electrical current. We will study the currents required to initiate vortex cutting, the forces which act on them during the process and attempt to understand the influence that vortex cutting might have in reducing the effectiveness of pinning centres in practical conductors.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.cam.ac.uk |