A high resolution magnetization sensor for AC loss measurement on cable-in-conduit conductors

A special sensor is proposed for magnetization measurement of superconductors with round cross section under pulsed transversal field. The sensor consists of a saddle shaped pick-up coil attached to the cylindrical superconducting sample, with a controlled geometrical distribution of the turns. The pick up coil carries out a two-dimensional flux integration and the software calculates the loop area in Joules. The sensor has been used during a campaign of ITER subsize conductor tests, showing an excellent agreement (better than 1%) with the results of boil-off calorimetric measurements. The detailed design, the algorithm and the test results are discussed in the paper. Other applications of this test method are proposed.