Flux Trapping and Shielding in Irreversible Superconductors*

Flux trapping and shielding experiments were carried out on Pb, Nb, Pb-Bi, Nb-Sn, and Nb-Ti samples of various shapes. Movable Hall probes were used to measure fields near or inside the samples as a function of position and of applied field. The trapping of transverse multipole magnetic fields in tubular samples was accomplished by cooling the samples in an applied field and then smoothly reducing the applied field to zero. Transverse quadrupole and sextupole fields with gradients of over 2000 G/cm were trapped with typical fidelity to the original impressed field of a few percent. Transverse dipole fields of up to 17 kG were also trapped with similar fidelity. Shielding experiments were carried out by cooling the samples in zero field and then gradually applying an external field. Flux trapping and shielding abilities were found to be limited by two factors, the pinning strength of the material, and the susceptibility of a sample to flux jumping. The trapping and shielding behavior of flat disk samples in axial fields and thin-walled tubular samples in transverse fields was modeled. The models, which were based on the concept of the critical state, allowed a connection to be made between the pinning strength and critical current level, and the flux trapping and shielding abilities. Adiabatic and dynamic stability theories are discussed and applied to the materials tested. Good qualitative, but limited quantitative agreement was obtained between the predictions of the theoretical stability criteria and the observed flux jumping behavior.