Development of a large current capacity conductor using Bi-system superconductors

• Published in: Physica. C, Superconductivity Superconductivity, 2000, Vol.335 (1), p.1-5
• Main Authors: Aoki, Y., Koizumi, T., Ohtani, N., Hasegawa, T., Motowidlo, L., Sokolowski, R.S., Scanlan, R.M., Nagaya, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O y; Ceramic barrier layer; Rutherford cable; Superconductor
• ISSN: 0921-4534; 1873-2143
• DOI: 10.1016/S0921-4534(00)00125-8

We developed a new strong Rutherford cable using Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O y (Bi-2212) high temperature superconducting (HTS) wire, which consisted of 427 superconducting filaments and AgMgSb alloy outer sheath. This wire exhibited excellent critical current ( I c) and critical current density ( J c) values at 4.2 K in self-field (285 A and 340 000 A/cm 2, respectively) and a room temperature tensile strength of 180 MPa. The Rutherford cable was prepared with a NiCr alloy strip as a cable core. The degradation of full cable I c induced by Ni diffusion was reduced by introducing a ceramic barrier layer between the Bi-2212 superconducting wires and the NiCr cable core. A full cable I c value of 3500 A at 4.2 K in self-field was obtained in short sample fabricated by using a cable core with a ZrO 2 film barrier layer. Finally, we fabricated an 80-m-long Rutherford cable by using a cable core with a MgO tape as a barrier layer and evaluated its full cable I c. I c values of 17-m-long sections cut from a continuous 80-m-long cable, were greater than 2700 A at 4.2 K in self-field.