Vanadium-gallium a superconducting alloy

Alloy

An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...

 of vanadium

Vanadium

Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery gray, ductile and malleable transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation. The element is found only in chemically combined form in nature...

 and gallium

Gallium

Gallium is a chemical element that has the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Elemental gallium does not occur in nature, but as the gallium salt in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores. A soft silvery metallic poor metal, elemental gallium is a brittle solid at low temperatures. As it liquefies...

 often used for the high field insert coils of superconducting electromagnets

Superconducting magnet

A superconducting magnet is an electromagnet made from coils of superconducting wire. They must be cooled to cryogenic temperatures during operation. In its superconducting state the wire can conduct much larger electric currents than ordinary wire, creating intense magnetic fields...

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Vanadium-gallium tape is used in superconducting

Superconductivity

Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance occurring in certain materials below a characteristic temperature. It was discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum...

 magnets (17.5 tesla

Tesla (unit)

The tesla is the SI derived unit of magnetic field B . One tesla is equal to one weber per square meter, and it was defined in 1960 in honour of the inventor, physicist, and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla...

s or 175,000 gauss

Gauss (unit)

The gauss, abbreviated as G, is the cgs unit of measurement of a magnetic field B , named after the German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss. One gauss is defined as one maxwell per square centimeter; it equals 1 tesla...

). The structure of the superconducting A15 phase of V₃Ga is similar to that of the more common Nb₃Sn

Niobium-tin

Niobium-tin or triniobium-tin is a metallic chemical compound of niobium and tin , used industrially as a type II superconductor. This intermetallic compoundis a A15 phases superconductor...

 and Nb₃Ti

Niobium-titanium

Niobium-titanium is an alloy of niobium and titanium, used industrially as a type II superconductor wire for superconducting magnets...

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The high field characteristics can be improved by doping with high-Z elements such as Nb, Ta, Sn, Pt and Pb

Superconducting properties

• Critical temperature (T_c) : ~14.2 Kelvin
• Upper critical field
  Upper critical field
  -Upper critical field:The upper critical field is the magnetic field which completely suppresses superconductivity in a Type II superconductor at 0K ....
  
   (H_c2) : Over 19 Tesla.

Fabrication of superconductive wires or tapes

V3Ga wires can be formed using solid-state precipitation