Design and test of the prototype high T/sub c/ current leads for the Large Hadron Collider orbit correctors

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will need some 800 superconducting magnets to correct the orbit of the particle beams. These magnets will be individually powered and each needs a pair of current leads to the ambient temperature. To minimize the heat loss through these leads, the magnets have been designed for a very low current of about 25 amperes and the leads could be made with high T/sub c/ material. A theoretical study by the authors (see Adv. Cryog. Eng., vol.39, 1994) investigated different types of high T/sub c/ leads. Since then, a prototype has been built which combines a low heat loss with an extremely simple design. The design, the test set up and the results are described in this paper.>