Synchrotron radiation techniques for the characterization of Nb$_{3}$Sn superconductors

The high flux of high energy x-rays that can be provided through state-of-the-art high energy synchrotron beam lines has enabled a variety of new experiments with the highly absorbing Nb$_{3}$Sn superconductors. We report different experiments with Nb$_{3}$Sn strands that have been conducted at the ID15 High Energy Scattering beam line of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). Synchrotron x-ray diffraction has been used in order to monitor phase transformations during in-situ reaction heat treatments prior to Nb$_{3}$Sn formation, and to monitor Nb$_{3}$Sn growth. Fast synchrotron micro-tomography was applied to study void growth during the reaction heat treatment of Internal Tin strands. The elastic strain in the different phases of fully reacted Nb$_{3}$Sn composite conductors can be measured by high resolution x-ray diffraction during in-situ tensile tests.