Superconductors
Low-temperature superconducting (LTS) wires and cables made to your exact specification
Luvata has been producing niobium-titanium (NbTi)-based
superconducting wires and cables for nearly fifty years. We are the
world's leading producer of special copper and low-temperature
superconducting (LTS) wire and cable for many applications.
Luvata has also been making niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) composite wires for several decades. Luvata's niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) wires are made via our unique internal-tin (IT) process and specifically designed for a variety of high field applications including fusion and high energy physics.
Luvata supplied advanced and high quality Nb3Sn conductors in mass production scale starting in 1990 for the ITER Central Solenoid Model Coil (CSMC) program. The ITER CSMC program was one of the most significant steps forward in fusion technology.
Our superconducting wires are generally designed with specific application in mind and their features vary widely among the different products offerings. Our products range from wires with single superconducting filament to thousands of fine filaments.
The more we discover about superconductors, the more they will touch our lives. And Luvata expects to remain at the forefront of future expansions into the burgeoning fields of MRI and NMR imaging, high energy physics, fusion energy development, levitating trains, power transmission, energy storage, silicon crystal growers for computer parts, and proton beam therapy for cancer treatment.
Superconductor types
- Enameled monolithic wires in round and rectangular configurations
- Wire-in-channel or cable-in-channel integrated conductors
- Nb-Sn conductors by 'internal-tin' and 'bronze' methods
Our engineering team can work with you to modify existing configurations to suit your particular application or to come up with an entirely new conductor product.
Please contact us to find out more.
Superconducting wires and cables are used in
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanners
- Particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
- Synchrotrons to generate proton beams for cancer therapy
- Fusion energy development magnets
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometers
- Scientific projects
- Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES)
- Silicon crystal growth magnets
- Lab and specialty magnets
MRI Wires
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Luvata MRI wires are designed for use in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which is playing an ever increasing role in diagnostic medicine. The intense magnetic fields that are needed for these instruments are a perfect application of superconductors and hollow copper conductors.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) provides an unparalleled view inside the human body, revealing a level of detail far superior to any other imaging modality. This is especially true with the latest higher-filed (>3.0T) MRI systems which are becoming commonplace in major hospitals around the world. In an effort to make MRI more affordable, and as a result make this revolutionary medical diagnostics technology accessible to more people, we have been working with leading magnet suppliers to develop optimal superconducting wire and the highest performance hollow conductors for MRI applications.
NMR Wires
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Luvata NMR wires are used in nuclear magnetic resonance applications. These are best known to the general public as Magnetic Resonance Imaging for medical diagnosis, but NMR spectrometers are also used in chemical research, biochemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, polymer and material science, petroleum research and agricultural chemistry.
SMES Wires
Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage
In Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, energy is stored within a magnetic field that is capable of releasing megawatts of power within a fraction of a cycle to replace a sudden loss in line power. The magnetic field is created by the flow of direct current in a superconducting coil.
Energy storage devices improve system responsiveness, reliability, and flexibility, while reducing capital and operating costs. SMES is most commonly used to improve power quality.
Project Wires
Scientific Projects
We have supplied NbTi superconducting wires and cables as well as copper hollow conductors to a number of prestigious High Energy Physics projects. These include projects such as HERA at DESY Hamburg; the Tevatron accelerator, located in Fermilab, Chicago, Illinois; W7-X Wendelstein, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) and ATLAS experimental detectors, both located at CERN of Geneva.
Our highly specialised conductors are in use in fusion energy experiments, for example, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR). We have produced technically challenging prototype wires for the upcoming International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
Silicon Crystal Growers
Superconducting magnets make it possible to grow large crystals for the Si wafer business economically. Superconductors do not only make the crystal growth systems more compact, but they also consume less energy. Consequently, the Si crystal industry has been able to increase diameters from 200 mm to 300 mm - more than doubling the surface area of Si wafers. We supply superconductors for this specialist application as well.
Relevant industries for Superconductors
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Did you know?
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CERN - the largest particle accelerator everThere are 525 million kilometers of Luvata's superconducting filament in CERN's LHC project. They needed 2,280 km of cable, with 36 strands per cable and 6,400 filaments per strand - all supplied to the most exacting specifications - that's a total of 684 return journeys to the Moon. Learn more