Advances in second generation high temperature superconducting wire manufacturing and R&D at American Superconductor Corporation

Abstract

The RABiTS™/MOD-YBCO (rolling assisted biaxially textured substrate/metal-organic deposition of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ ) route has been established as a low-cost manufacturing process for producing high performance second generation (2G) wire. American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) has used this approach to establish a production scale manufacturing line based on a wide-web manufacturing process. This initial production line is currently capable of producing 2G wire in lengths to 500 m with critical currents exceeding 250 A cm −1 width at 77 K, in the self-field. The wide-web process, combined with slitting and lamination processes, allows customization of the 2G wire width and stabilizer composition to meet application specific wire requirements. The production line is currently supplying 2G wire for multiple cable, fault current limiter and coil applications. Ongoing R&D is focused on the development of thicker YBCO layers and improved flux pinning centers. This paper reviews the history of 2G wire development at AMSC, summarizes the current capability of the 2G wire manufacturing at AMSC, and describes future R&D improvements.

Progresses and challenges in the development of high-field solenoidal magnets based on RE123 coated conductors

“…The enhanced texture of the seed layer with respect to the substrate propagates throughout the subsequent YSZ and CeO 2 buffer layers. This template results in an improvement of ∼3°in Δχ and ∼1°in Δφ [12] compared with the NiW tape. All buffer layers are grown by RF-sputtering.…”

Tuning nanoparticle size for enhanced functionality in perovskite thin films deposited by metal organic deposition

“…[17][18][19] Until now, such a large amount of second phase resulted in current blocking and the loss of crystallinity. 19,20 For REBCO superconductors, MOD has been shown to be amenable for growing extremely high performance materials [21][22][23][24][25][26] with high throughput; [27][28][29] however, the tailoring of NP inclusions is extremely difficult. 30 Unlike PLD, the formation of NPs during MOD occurs before matrix formation; therefore, the NP size is not determined by crystalline strain but by diffusion, leaving little room for tailoring particle size compared with that of in situ processes, where growth dynamics affect the nanoparticle/nanorod morphology.…”

Superconducting wind turbine generators

“…The maximum length of HTS conductors in continues pieces needs to be increased. For 1G conductor, lengths above 1000 m for a single tape have become a standard (42), while 2G tape is still produced in only a few hundred meters lengths (43,44), even though a slow increase in lengths is noticeable (45). Issues with increasing the length of single tape in part stems from variations of critical parameters over the length of the tape, where a section with low I c downgrades the whole batch.…”