Niobium-titanium
Niobium–titanium
Superconducting alloy of niobium and titanium
Niobium–titanium (Nb-Ti) is an alloy of niobium and titanium, used industrially as a type II superconductor wire for superconducting magnets, normally as Nb-Ti fibres in an aluminium or copper matrix.
Its critical temperature is about 10 kelvins.[1]
The high critical magnetic field and high critical supercurrent density of Nb-Ti was discovered in 1962 at Atomics International by T. G. Berlincourt and R. R. Hake.[2][3] Nb-Ti alloys are notable for their easy workability and affordability, distinguishing them from other superconducting materials.
Nb-Ti alloys have a maximal critical magnetic field of about 15 teslas and, thus, are suitable for fabricating supermagnets capable of generating magnetic fields of up to about 10 teslas. For stronger magnetic fields, higher performance superconductors, such as niobium–tin, are commonly used, but these are more difficult to fabricate and more expensive to produce.
The global superconductivity market was valued at around five billion euros in 2014.[4] Magnet resonance imaging (MRI) systems, most of which use Nb-Ti, accounted for about 80% of the total market value.