Overcoming the barrier to 1000 A ∕ cm width superconducting coatings

• Published in: Applied physics letters 2005-10, Vol.87 (16), p.162505-162505-3
• Main Authors: Foltyn, S. R., Wang, H., Civale, L., Jia, Q. X., Arendt, P. N., Maiorov, B., Li, Y., Maley, M. P., MacManus-Driscoll, J. L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.2106021

Remarkable progress has been made in the development of Y Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7 − δ (YBCO)-based coated conductors, and the problems of continuous processing of commercially viable tape lengths are being rapidly solved by companies around the world. However, the current carried by these tapes is presently limited to about 100 A for a 1 - cm -wide tape, and this is due to a rapid decrease of critical current density ( J c ) as the coating thickness is increased. We have now overcome this problem by separating relatively thin YBCO layers with very thin layers of Ce O 2 . Using this multilayer technology, we have achieved J c values on metal substrates of up to 4.0 MA ∕ cm 2 ( 75 K , self-field) in films as thick as 3.5 μ m , for an extrapolated current of 1400 A ∕ cm width.