Continuous winding magnets using thin film conductors without resistive joints

Abstract

A continuous winding method produces a continuously wound electrical device, such an undulator. A continuous tape is wound about a series of turn around pins and in grooves in a magnetic core. A plurality of winding stacks are created, each transitioning to the next sequential stack by a transition tape portion extending from one turn around pin to the next turn around pin, which is position opposite with regard to the location of the pin on the magnetic core.

Claims

1. An undulator comprising: a magnetic core having a plurality of parallel grooves at least partially circumferentially about the core; a plurality of turnaround pins affixed to the core, a first group of more than one turnaround pin of the plurality of turnaround pins positioned along one side of the core and a second group of more than one turnaround pin of the plurality of turnaround pins positioned along the other side of the core, each of the plurality of pins associated with one of the plurality of parallel grooves; a continuously wound tape, comprised of a conductor or superconductor material, wound about each of the plurality of pins and the associated one of the plurality of parallel grooves, forming a winding stack having a plurality of magnetic coils with alternating polarity; the continuously wound tape further having a plurality of transition tape portions, each of the plurality of transition tape portions extending from one of the turnaround pins to a succeeding pin, wherein the continuously wound tape is without joints throughout the winding stack.

2. The undulator of claim 1, wherein the continuously wound tape is a high temperature superconductor.

3. The undulator of claim 1, wherein the continuously wound tape is REBCO coated conductor.

4. The undulator of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of parallel grooves comprise radiused edges.

5. The undulator of claim 1, further comprising a first support structure associated with the first group of the plurality of turnaround pins and a second support structure associated with the second group of the plurality of turnaround pins.

6. The undulator of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of bottom supports, each associated with one of the plurality of parallel grooves.

7. The undulator of claim 1, wherein the undulator is a helical undulator.

8. An undulator comprising: a magnetic core having a plurality of parallel groves at least partially circumferentially about the core; a first turnaround pin affixed to the core at adjacent a first side of the core and associated with a first winding path of the core; a second turnaround pin affixed to the core at adjacent a second side of the core and associated with a second winding path of the core; a continuously wound tape, comprised of a conductor or superconductor material, wound about each of the first turnaround pin and the first winding path of the core to form a first pancake coil; a transition portion of the continuously wound tape extending from the first turnaround pin to the second turn around pin without a resistive joint; and the continuously wound tape wound about each of the second turnaround pin and the second winding path of the core to form a second pancake coil; and wherein the first turnaround pin and the second turnaround pin are removably securable to each other.

9. The undulator of claim 8, wherein the continuously wound tape is a high temperature superconductor.

10. The undulator of claim 8, wherein the continuously wound tape is REBCO coated conductor.

11. The undulated of claim 8, wherein each of the first winding path and the second winding path are parallel grooves in the core.

12. The undulator of claim 11, wherein each of the parallel grooves comprise radiused edges.

13. The undulator of claim 8, further comprising a first support structure associated with the first turnaround pin and a second support structure associated with the second turnaround pin.

14. The undulator of claim 8, further comprising a plurality of bottom supports.

15. The undulator of claim 8, wherein the undulator is a helical undulator.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages of the disclosure will become more apparent and better understood by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 displays a cross-section of a planar undulator showing the superconducting coils, emitted photons, electrical current directions and the magnetic field distribution along the axis of the magnetic structure.

(3) FIG. 2 is an overview of the winding scheme showing all major components of the prototype undulator magnet. The inset shows the details on two turnaround pins.

(4) FIG. 3A-C displays photos of REBCO coated conductor wound on a magnet core using the continuous winding scheme described here. FIG. 3A shows a top-view of the winding; FIG. 3B shows a side view of the undulator magnet showing the current directions; FIG. 3C is a perspective view of the overall winding of undulator pack showing the turnarounds and current directions at the top of the undulator coil packs.

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates current-voltage (I-V) curves of the coil before and after winding demonstrating that there is no degradation in the performance of the REBCO tape due to the winding process of the undulator coil.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(6) In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and made part of this disclosure.

(7) FIG. 1 shows the fundamental principle of an undulator 10 with its components. Only the parts that are closest to the electron beam 40 (dashed horizontal line) are shown for clarity. The magnet windings 30 are wound into the grooves of a ferromagnetic core 140. Dots and crosses indicated a current flow direction into the page and out of the page, respectively. The magnetic field generated by the currents is concentrated by the magnetic poles 45. Successive magnet windings 30 have opposite polarity resulting in the periodic on-axis magnetic field 20 with an amplitude of B.sub.0. The magnetic field arrows are also shown. One magnetic undulator period, .sub.u, encompasses two magnetic poles and two coil sets with opposing polarity. The generated photons, shown as small waves 25 in the figure, propagate essentially along the electron beam 40. Due to relativistic effects, their wavelength is much shorter than .sub.u. Sufficiently long undulators will generate coherent x-ray radiation when the magnetic pattern is the same from period to period, that is, phase errors are negligible.

(8) FIG. 2 describes the procedure for fabricating a planar superconducting undulator 100 using ribbon or thin, high aspect ratio conductors, for example REBCO coated conductors and wound in a continuous fashion such that there is no need for resistive splices to form superconducting windings 111. In various embodiments, the methods described herein can be used with tape-shaped conductors, such as REBCO coated conductors described herein. In a preferred embodiment, the aspect ratio is about 40 but may be greater than 40 or less than 40 in other embodiments. As described below, the winding procedure utilizes auxiliary turnaround pins 120 that enable to reverse the polarity of successive coils. These pins 120 become an integral part of the final magnet structure; in fact, they also promote cooling of the superconducting windings 111. The procedure affords great flexibility to the specific winding, i.e., tape width, wet or dry winding, co-winding of an insulating layer.

(9) FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 depict the overall view of the undulator superconducting windings (or pancake coils) 111 wound according to the new procedure. The magnet core 140 is shown with auxiliary turnaround pins 120. The diameter of these pins 120 is larger than the minimal bend radius of the coated conductor, for example, 0.5. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the bend radius is based on the type of device, typically set by the manufacturer. While a 0.5 inch radius is used in the examples herein, the invention is not limited to such. The turnaround pins 120 are anchored to the magnet core 140 via support fixtures 151, 152, 153 and 154 that are bolted to the front and back faces of the core 140. Bottom support fixtures 144 are also shown in FIG. 2. These bottom support fixtures 144 prevent the motion of the turnaround pins 120 during winding and operation. Furthermore, the bottom support fixtures 144 also provide conduction cooling for the free-standing portion of the superconducting windings 166, which is the section of the pancake coils 111 suspended between a turnaround pin 120 and a corresponding groove 142. The turnaround pins 120 are composed of individual sections 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d (in FIG. 2) that screw into each other (see inset of FIG. 2) in such a way that the turnaround pins can be extended as more and more pancake coils 111 are wound. A portion of the tape 160 establishes the transition 165 from one pancake coil 111 to the neighboring pancake coil. The beam pipe 101 is located underneath the core 140.

(10) The entire magnetic structure 100 is designed to operate with conduction cooling. There are cooling passages, including a core coolant passage 170c in the center of the core and support coolant passages such as a first support coolant passage 170a and a second support coolant passage 170b in the center of the turnaround pins for liquid helium enable conduction cooling of the undulator. Typically, these passages 170 work in a gravity-driven thermosiphon loop principle.

(11) A realization of the new winding scheme is shown in FIG. 3. The REBCO coated conductor has been wound continuously in such a way that the electrical current runs in opposite directions from one pancake coil 111 to the next according to FIG. 1 thereby, producing a periodic magnetic field.

(12) In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the winding of 30 layers of REBCO coated conductor is shown. The number of layers of a winding in one groove 142 is determined from an optimization of getting the highest magnetic field. The embodiment of FIG. 3A-C has four undulator periods. It should be appreciated that any desired number of winding stacks 111 may be formed to provide the desired length of device.

(13) The initial tape portion 117 is used to make a connection to the first external current lead (not shown). A similar tape portion protruding from the other end of the undulator provides a contact to the second external current lead (not shown). The turnaround pins 120 are inserted as the winding process of individual coil pack 111 progresses. The opposing electrical current directions are shown in FIG. 3B.

(14) The winding process starts by threading turnaround pin 120a into support fixture 151 using the thread 108 on pin 120a. Tape 117, (referred to herein as a tape, but can be a tape, ribbon, or any conducting material in a form factor amenable to winding as described) is wrapped around the first turnaround pin 120a from the bottom and laid into the first groove 142a as shown in FIG. 3. Enough spare material is left to form the incoming current contact [0024]. Subsequently, tape is wound continuously from a feed spool into groove 142a and over pin 120a until the desired number turns has been reached. Although a groove is shown and described, it should be appreciated any compatible structure that allows for retention of the winding along a winding path of the core may be used. At this point the first pancake coil 111a is completed. In one embodiment, the winding can wrap n times around the core 140, in the groove 142, and the first pin 120 forming a pancake coil 111 that is n layers.

(15) Then, the core is turned such that the feed tape lies flat on the pancake coil section between pin 120a and the core, and pin 120b is threaded into support fixture 152 with the aid of threads 108 (inset of FIG. 2) in such a way that the tape is located between pin 120b and the core. Now the transition 165a to the next groove 142b is established by sliding the tape slightly along the undulator axis. Now, the winding direction is reversed such that the second turnaround pin 120b catches the tape. While continuing to wind and sliding the tape slightly along the undulator axis the tape is fed into the second groove 142b. This completes the transition to the second pancake coil, and after the desired number or turns have been completed the process repeats by inserting turnaround pin 120c, establishing transition 165b and reversing the winding direction again. Any number of pancake coils 111 can be created with this fashion. The length of the turnaround pins has been designed carefully: Pin 120a should cover groove 142a but not obstruct groove 142b. An appropriate length would be .sub.u/2. Pin 120b should cover groove 142b but not obstruct groove 142c, thus a length of .sub.u would be appropriate. All consecutive sections of pins are inserted by threading them into the existing pieces using the threads shown in the inset of the FIG. 2. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the first transition tape portion 165 comprises a single layer or strand of tape. In this scheme, the slanted angle of the transitions 165 arises due to helical winding around the turnaround pins thereby avoiding side-bending of the tape.

(16) In one embodiment, the grooves 142 include slight tapers in the circular sections of the core 140 to further facilitate the transition.

(17) Preferably and advantageously, during this winding procedure the winding tension on the tape is always maintained constant.

(18) This winding scheme can be applied to different configurations of magnetic insertion devicesnamely helical and planar undulators, where current flow in different direction is required from one coil to the adjacent one. It can also be applied to different HTS magnet systems such as solenoids made from pancake coils 111 where the current flows in the same direction in each pancake coil. The desired current direction can be obtained by adjusting the tangle by which the tap wraps around the turnaround pins. Adjusting the wrap angle in turnaround pins controls the orientation of the tape. For example, here, the wrapping angle is about 270 and the current direction is reversed from one winding stacks to another. If the wrapping angle is set 360, the current direction does not change. The incoming current direction is reversed by 360 degree which makes it same as outgoing direction.

(19) FIG. 4 presents the I-V curves of a REBCO tape before and after the winding. The critical current of the tape was measured before winding the coil according to the proposed technique. Then, the undulator coil is wound as shown in FIG. 2 using the same tape. The coil is unwound and the I-V curve is measured in the exact same configuration as before winding. These two I-V curves are compared in this figure showing that the I.sub.c before and after winding is the same. This cycle was repeated several times with the same result demonstrating that this winding scheme does not degrade the REBCO tape.

(20) In one embodiment, the undulator has a period of .sub.u=16 mm, a width of the windings (tape width) of 4 mm and width of the magnetic poles of 4 mm. However, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the described winding scheme can easily be adapted to other dimensions of the undulator. Thus, the dimensions can be changed for the tape or the undulators' structure will utilize the same winding scheme described herein.

(21) The foregoing description of illustrative embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and of description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting with respect to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.