Magnetic shielding performances of YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ-coated silver tubes obtained by electrophoretic deposition

Abstract

We report a complete procedure to achieve multilayer YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) thick films by electrophoretic deposition on silver tubes using a suspension of YBCO powder in butanol. With the aim to optimize the magnetic shielding performances of the coatings, we have carried out an extensive investigation of the influence of the deposition parameters, the multilayer deposition sequence and the intermediate/final heat treatments on the coating microsfructure. Using the optimized conditions, a 24-layer YBCO coating has been successfully prepared on an 80 mm long Ag tube: the melt growth processed multilayered YBCO thick film thus obtained can shield an applied magnetic field of 1.9 mT at 77 K, the highest value per thickness unit reported so far in the literature for these materials.

The Processing and Properties of Bulk (Re)bco High Temperature Superconductors: Current Status and Future Perspectives

“…Recently, YBCO and GdBCO cylindrical cavities have been fabricated and tested for this purpose, with shielding of ∼1.5 T at 20 K being achieved in an YBCO cylinder. A GdBCO cylinder of diameter 32 mm, bore 10 mm and height 13 mm, fabricated employing the TSIG technique, exhibited a shielding performance of 0.4 T at 77 K. Given the challenge of melt processing long cylinders of (RE)BCO material in the form of a single grain, attempts have been made to obtain thick and multiple layers of YBCO on Ag or Ni substrates [257,258] using electrophoretic deposition and continuation spray detonation techniques [259,260]. This approach is useful in two ways; longer cylinders are easier to obtain and both processes typically require relatively small quantities of (RE)BCO powder for deposition as thick film layers (typically accounting to thickness in the range 10-200 µm [249,[257][258][259][260][261]).…”

“…A GdBCO cylinder of diameter 32 mm, bore 10 mm and height 13 mm, fabricated employing the TSIG technique, exhibited a shielding performance of 0.4 T at 77 K. Given the challenge of melt processing long cylinders of (RE)BCO material in the form of a single grain, attempts have been made to obtain thick and multiple layers of YBCO on Ag or Ni substrates [257,258] using electrophoretic deposition and continuation spray detonation techniques [259,260]. This approach is useful in two ways; longer cylinders are easier to obtain and both processes typically require relatively small quantities of (RE)BCO powder for deposition as thick film layers (typically accounting to thickness in the range 10-200 µm [249,[257][258][259][260][261]). Of course, continued research is required to achieve good connectivity across multiple grains in thick films of (RE)BCO, although significant progress has been made by employing melt-growth based techniques under reduced atmospheres to improve connectivity.…”

Magnetic Shielding Above 1 T at 20 K With Bulk, Large Grain YBCO Tubes Made by Buffer-Aided Top Seeded Melt Growth

“…In a good approximation, the limit field Blim is mainly determined by the product of the critical current density Jc and a geometrical dimension which, in most cases, is limited by the wall thickness d of the superconducting enclosure [8]. Films deposited on metallic substrates [9,10] or structures made of coated conductors [11][12][13][14] have the advantage of being easily scalable but are not currently appropriate for shielding high fields because of their small thickness. Bulk cylinders made of high temperature superconductors (HTS), on the other hand, have already demonstrated their high-field shielding abilities.…”

(RE)BCO coated conductors with BHO exhibiting promising in-field critical current performance up to fields of 31.2 T: a significant step forward towards the development of all (RE)BCO large field magnets

“…High temperature superconductors (HTS) from the time of their discovery have been a centre of attention due to their promising potential in several high-field applications, including but not limited to trapped field magnets, NMR/MRI coils, superconducting rotating machines and high-field magnets. HTS materials have been explored in different geometries and configurations including bulks [1][2][3], thick films [4,5] and thin films [6][7][8]. Coated conductor technology soon emerged as the best option compared to the traditional powder-in-tube approaches for realising practical wires/tapes employing these materials.…”