Superconducting flux pumps are the kind of devices which can generate direct current into superconducting circuit using external magnetic field. The key point is how to induce a dc voltage across the superconducting load by ac fields. Giaever (1966 IEEE Spectr . 3 117 ) pointed out flux motion in superconductors will induce a dc voltage, and demonstrated a rectifier model which depended on breaking superconductivity. van de Klundert et al (1981 Cryogenics 21 195, 267 ) in their review(s) described various configurations for flux pumps all of which relied on inducing the normal state in at least part of the superconductor. In this letter, following their work, we reveal that a variation in the resistivity of type II superconductors is sufficient to induce a dc voltage in flux pumps and it is not necessary to break superconductivity. This variation in resistivity is due to the fact that flux flow is influenced by current density, field intensity, and field rate of change. We propose a general circuit analogy for travelling wave flux pumps, and provide a mathematical analysis to explain the dc voltage. Several existing superconducting flux pumps which rely on the use of a travelling magnetic wave can be explained using the analysis enclosed. This work can also throw light on the design and optimization of flux pumps.

MgB ₂ in bulk form shows great promise as trapped field magnets (TFMs) as an alternative to bulk (RE)BCO materials to replace permanent magnets in applications such as rotating machines, magnetic bearings and magnetic separation, and the relative ease of fabrication of MgB ₂ materials has enabled a number of different processing techniques to be developed. In this paper, a comparison is made between bulk MgB ₂ samples fabricated by the hot isostatic pressing (HIP), with and without Ti-doping, and infiltration growth (IG) methods and the highest trapped field in an IG-processed bulk MgB ₂ sample, B _z = 2.12 at 5 K and 1.66 T at 15 K, is reported. Since bulk MgB ₂ has a more homogeneous J _c distribution than (RE)BCO bulks, studies on such systems are made somewhat easier because simplified assumptions regarding the geometry and J _c distribution can be made, and a numerical simulation technique based on the 2D axisymmetric H -formulation is introduced to model the complete process of field cooling (FC) magnetization. As input data for the model, the measured J _c ( B , T ) characteristics of a single, small specimen taken from each bulk sample are used, in addition to measured specific heat and thermal conductivity data for the materials. The results of the simulation reproduce the experimental results extremely well: (1) indicating the samples have excellent homogeneity, and (2) validating the numerical model as a fast, accurate and powerful tool to investigate the trapped field profile of bulk MgB ₂ discs of any size accurately, under any specific operating conditions. Finally, the paper is concluded with a numerical analysis of the influence of the dimensions of the bulk sample on the trapped field.

Magnetocaloric and transport properties are reported for novel poly- and nanocrystalline double composite manganites, La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃/La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃, prepared by the sol-gel method. Magnetic field dependence of magnetic entropy change is found to be stronger for the nano- than the polycrystalline composite. The remarkable broadening of the temperature interval, where the magnetocaloric effect occurs in poly- and nanocrystalline composites, causes the relative cooling power (RCP(S)) of the nanocrystalline composite to be reduced by only 10% compared to the Sr based polycrystalline phase. The RCP(S) of the polycrystalline composite becomes remarkably enhanced. The low temperature magnetoresistance is enhanced by 5% for the nanostructured composite.

We study the magnetic shielding properties of hybrid ferromagnetic/superconductor (F/S) structures consisting of two coaxial cylinders, with one of each material. We use an axisymmetric finite-element model in which the electrical properties of the superconducting tube are modeled by a nonlinear E-J power law with a magnetic-field-dependent critical current density whereas the magnetic properties of the ferromagnetic material take saturation into account. We study and compare the penetration of a uniform axial magnetic field in two cases: 1) a ferromagnetic tube placed inside a larger superconducting tube (Ferro-In configuration) and 2) a ferromagnetic tube placed outside the superconducting one (Ferro-Out configuration). In both cases, we assess how the ferromagnetic tube improves the shielding properties of the sole superconducting tube. The influence of the geometrical parameters of the ferromagnetic tube is also studied: It is shown that, upon an optimal choice of the geometrical parameters, the range of magnetic fields that are efficiently shielded by the high-temperature superconductor tube alone can be increased by a factor of up to 7 (2) in a Ferro-Out (Ferro-In) configuration. The optimal configuration uses a 1020 carbon steel with a thickness of 2 mm and a height that is half that of the superconducting cylinder (80 mm).