Approach to the superheating field in SRF
A superconductor can keep magnetic field out somewhat beyond the field at which entering becomes energetically favorable, up to the superheating field, before vortices (tiny whirlpools of current carrying magnetic flux) enter. Real cavities fail below this limit, and the true maximum is uncertain.
Why it matters
The superheating field is the ultimate ceiling on accelerating gradient for any superconducting cavity material.
Review
M. K. Transtrum, G. Catelani, J. P. Sethna, Superheating field of superconductors within Ginzburg-Landau theory, Physical Review B, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.83.094505 reference checked
See also
- Special case of Field and loss limits of superconducting RF cavities
Timestamp record
- Signed record
- 8435c3a54628…
- Public log
- Entry 78, in checkpoint 2,123
- In the log by
- Block 969,698, 2026-10-03
This text was in the PubPhys log by that date. The date says nothing about when the problem was first posed.