Characteristic length for pinning force density in $Nb{_3}Sn$

Abstract

The pinning force density $F{_p}(J{_c},B)=J{_c} \times B$ (where $J_c$ is the critical current density and $B$ is the magnetic field) is one of the main parameters that characterize the resilience of a superconductor to carry a dissipative-free transport current in an applied magnetic field. Kramer (1973 J.Appl.Phys. 44 1360), and Dew-Hughes (1974 Phil.Mag. 30 293) proposed a widely used scaling law for the pinning force density amplitude: $F{_p}(B)=F{_{p,max}}((p+q){^{(p+q)}}/({p^p}{q^q}))(B/B_{c2}){^p}(1-B/B{_{c2}})^q$, where $F{_{p,max}}$, $B{_{c2}}$, $p$, and $q$ are free-fitting parameters. Since the late 1970-s till now, several research groups have reported experimental data on the dependence of $F_{p,max}$ on the average grain size, $d$, in $Nb{_3}Sn$-based conductors. Godeke (2006 Superc.Sci.Techn. 19 R68) proposed that the dependence obeys the law $|F{_{p,max}}(d)|=A \times ln(1/d)+B $. However, this scaling law has several problems, for instance, the logarithm is taken from a non-dimensionless variable, and $|F{_{p,max}}(d)|< 0 $ for large grain sizes and $|F{_{p,max}}(d)|\rightarrow \infty $ for $d \rightarrow 0$. Here we reanalysed the full inventory of publicly available $|F{_{p,max}}(d)|$ data for $Nb{_3}Sn$ conductors and found that the dependence can be described by $F_{p,max}(d)= F_{p,max}(0)exp(-d/{\delta})$ law, where the characteristic length, ${\delta}$, varies within a remarkably narrow range, that is, ${\delta}=(175 \pm 13) nm$, for samples fabricated by different technologies. The interpretation of the result is based on the idea that the in-field supercurrent flows within a thin surface layer (thickness of ${\delta}$) near the grain boundary surfaces. An alternative interpretation is that ${\delta}$ represents characteristic length of the exponential decay flux pinning potential from the dominant defects in $Nb{_3}Sn$ superconductors, which are grain boundaries.