Method and apparatus for measuring critical current value of

Abstract

Method and apparatus of measuring a critical current value of a superconducting wire formed by wire sections S(n), n being 1.ltoreq.n.ltoreq.N and initially set to 1, comprising a first step (a) of determining electric currents I(m), m being 1.ltoreq.m.ltoreq.M; a second step (b) of setting m to 1; a third step (c) of passing the electric current I(m) through the wire section S(n); a fourth step (d) of detecting a voltage generated in the wire section S(n) by the electric current I(m); a fifth step (e) of replacing m with m+1; a sixth step (f) of repeating the steps (c) to (e) until m is equal to M; a seventh step (g) of replacing n with n+1; an eighth step (h) of repeating the steps (b)-(g) until n is equal to N, thereby obtaining N.times.M voltages; a ninth step (i) of setting m to 1; a tenth step (j) of summing up the N voltages generated by the same electric current I(m) to obtain a summation voltage represented by Vsum(m); an eleventh step (k) of replacing m with m+1 after the step (j); a twelfth step (l) of repeating the steps (j) and (k) until m is equal to M, thereby obtaining M summation voltages Vsum(m); and a thirteenth step (m) of calculating the critical current value of the superconducting wire on the basis of a reference voltage and a relationship between the summation voltages Vsum(m) and the electric currents I(m), the reference voltage being predetermined depending upon the superconducting wire length.