Commercial Exploration of High‐Temperature Superconductivity

Abstract

AbstractSuperconductivity, which is the condition in which the electrical resistance of a material drops to zero, was discovered nearly 100 years ago. Since that time, large superconducting magnets such as those used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and big physics experiments have been developed and can now be regarded as being commercial products extending our capabilities in medicine and science. Yet many industrial applications of high temperature superconductivity (HTS) are on the horizon waiting to enter the marketplace. Currently, numerous manufacturers are working on improving and upscaling HTS materials, which operate at liquid nitrogen temperatures, and the most promising configuration for these materials is in the form of long tapes also known as coated conductors. These coated conductors are wound into coils in order to produce electrical components such as motors, magnets, transformers etc. Depending on the component to be made, there is an alternative to fabricating long unit lengths of superconducting tape, and in forming stable robust windings utilizing them. Now, a new technique has been developed which is using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) to deposit a series of layers of superconducting material directly on to the surface of a cylinder and patterning them into coils. This configuration provides a very direct route for the production of components that conventionally involve winding processes. This article explores how coated conductor cylinders can be produced utilizing this technique and explains why industriallyproven excimers represent the optimum choice of laser source for this emergingtechnology.