Current Leads
- Current leads
Today’s superconducting applications, ranging from molecular diagnostic equipment and medical imagers to experimental fusion reactors and large particle accelerators, operate at temperatures as low as -270° Celsius. Current leads transfer electric current from room temperature to these extremely low temperature operating conditions.
Conventional current leads are built using metals such as copper or brass. Heat leakage caused by the high thermal conductivity of these metals results in high energy and cryogenic gas consumption.
Our robust HTS technology reduces heat leakage to the cryogenic envelope by an order of magnitude and is used in a wide range of applications, from MRI to large scale and cryogen free magnets.
Applications
- Large scale use of HTS current leads is typically found in High Energy Physics Applications, such as CERN’s LHC, resulting in substantial savings on the operational side.
- Cryogen-free compact magnets use HTS current leads as an enabling technology, taking superconductivity from the laboratory to the user.
- MRI and NMR magnet manufacturers use advanced zero-boil-off designs, that incorporate cost effective HTS current leads.
Benefits
- Absence of Ohmic losses
- Large contact surface
- Superior mechanical properties
- Rugged structure
- Integral current bypass