Reference and &-character in text along path in tikz

Question

I would like to use the &-symbol and reference (to sections) in the texts that are circled around the inner point but whenever I try to do this, the document compiles to infinity.

Minimal working example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage [ europeanresistors ]{ circuitikz }
\usepackage{tikz, pgfornament, tikzrput}
    \usetikzlibrary{shapes.geometric,arrows,decorations, decorations.text}
    \usepackage[textwidth=5cm,textheight=5cm,right=2.5cm,left=2.5cm]{geometry}
    \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
    \usepackage{fix-cm}
\usepackage[colorlinks=true, allcolors=blue]{hyperref}
\begin{document}
\section{Introduction}\label{sec:intro}
\begin{figure}[htbp]
\begin{tikzpicture}
\drawdouble distance=10mm circle (2.3cm);
\node at (0,0,0,0) {This & that \ref{sec:intro}};
\path [postaction={decorate,decoration={text along path, reverse path,text align=center, text={||Inner Ring 1 }}}] (-36:2.3cm) arc (-36:216:2.3cm);
\path [postaction={decorate,decoration={raise=-1ex,text along path, text align=right, text={||Inner Ring 2}}}] (-36:2.3cm) arc (-36:370:2.3cm);
\path [postaction={decorate,decoration={raise=-1ex,text along path, text align=right, text={||Inner Ring 3}}}] (-36:2.3cm) arc (-36:220:2.3cm);
%Not working:
%\path [postaction={decorate,decoration={raise=-1ex,text along path, text align=right, text={||This & that \ref{sec:intro} 3}}}] (-36:2.3cm) arc (-36:220:2.3cm);
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{This is a circle} 
\label{fig:circle}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

Answer 1

There're two issues in the expression

This \& that \ref{sec:intro} 3

The first is the ampersand. The fix is easy, enclose it with braces:

This {\&} that \ref{sec:intro} 3

The second is the \ref. A workaround would be to convert the section number to a simple string. Following Why can't I expand \ref*{} as a string?, you can try:

\edef\introsectionnumber{\getrefnumber{sec:intro}}

before

This {\&} that \introsectionnumber{} 3

So this should work:

% working:
\edef\introsectionnumber{\getrefnumber{sec:intro}}
\path [postaction={decorate,decoration={raise=-1ex,text along path, text align=right, text={||This {\&} that \introsectionnumber{}  3}}}] (-36:2.3cm) arc (-36:220:2.3cm);