Performance Boost in Industrial Multifilamentary Nb(3)Sn Wires due to Radiation Induced Pinning Centers

We report non-Cu critical current densities of 4 . 09 ⋅ 10(9) A/m(2) at 12 T and 2.27 ⋅ 10(9) A/m(2) at 15 T obtained from transport measurements on a Ti-alloyed RRP Nb(3)Sn wire after irradiation to a fast neutron fluence of 8.9 ⋅ 10(21) m(−2). These values are to our knowledge unprecedented in multifilamentary Nb(3)Sn, and they correspond to a J(c) enhancement of approximately 60% relative to the unirradiated state. Our magnetometry data obtained on short wire samples irradiated to fast neutron fluences of up to 2.5 ⋅ 10(22) m(−2) indicate the possibility of an even better performance, whereas earlier irradiation studies on bronze-processed Nb(3)Sn wires with a Sn content further from stoichiometry attested a decline of the critical current density at such high fluences. We show that radiation induced point-pinning centers rather than an increase of the upper critical field are responsible for this J(c) enhancement, and argue that these results call for further research on pinning landscape engineering.