Fermilab History and Archives Project


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Single Strand Composite Wires
The single strand composite wire shows the 2200 individual filaments as well as two versions of the cable.
Note the details of the electrical insulation around the cable.


The coils of Fermilab's superconducting magnets are made of a noibium-titanium alloy that is superconducting when kept at approximately -450 degrees F. (4.6 degrees Kelvin).

Superconductivity is the phenomenon, exhibited by certain metals and alloys, of continuously conducting electrical current without resistance when cooled to temperatures near absolute zero.

To achive these cryogenic temperatures the niobium-titanium coils in the Tevatron magnets are surrounded by a cryostat designed to provide space for a continuous flow of liquid helium around the coils.

The use of superconducting technology enables the Tevatron to provide a magnetic field of 45 kilogauss and to increase the energy to one trillion electron volts.