Introduction to Niobium-Titanium Alloy Superconductors

Niobium-titanium superconductors are far cheaper to produce than other superconducting materials: they can be heat-treated to improve superconducting properties before they are stranded, wound, and assembled for other applications; their yield strength is close to that of steel; and these excellent properties will keep NbTi superconducting alloys in widespread use for a long time to come.

Niobium-titanium alloy superconductors are the "pioneer materials" of the superconductivity industry. Together with Nb3Sn superconductors, it is the material of choice for practical superconducting magnet applications. It has a high upper critical magnetic field (about 11 T at 4.2 K and 14 T at 2 K), can be drawn well with copper, and has good processability, high strength, and good superconducting properties.