Superconducting and hybrid systems for magnetic field shielding

In this paper we investigate and compare the shielding properties of superconducting and hybrid superconducting/ferromagnetic systems, consisting of cylindrical cups with an aspect ratio of height/radius close to unity. First, we reproduced, by finite-element calculations, the induction magnetic field values measured along the symmetry axis in a superconducting (MgB₂) and in a hybrid configuration (MgB₂/Fe) as a function of the applied magnetic field and of the position. The calculations are carried out using the vector potential formalism, taking into account simultaneously the non-linear properties of both the superconducting and the ferromagnetic material. On the basis of the good agreement between the experimental and the computed data we apply the same model to study the influence of the geometric parameters of the ferromagnetic cup as well as of the thickness of the lateral gap between the two cups on the shielding properties of the superconducting cup. The results show that in the considered non-ideal geometry, where the edge effect in the flux penetration cannot be disregarded, the superconducting shield is always the most efficient solution at low magnetic fields. However, a partial recovery of the shielding capability of the hybrid configuration occurs if a mismatch in the open edges of the two cups is considered. In contrast, at high magnetic fields the hybrid configurations are always the most effective. In particular, the highest shielding factor was found for solutions with the ferromagnetic cup protruding over the superconducting one. (paper)