Ultra-High-Performance Superconducting Wire Based on REBCO A Breakthrough in High-Temperature Superconductivity
TapTechNews August 13th news, a research team from the State University of New York at Buffalo announced a preparation achievement of ultra-high-performance superconducting wire based on rare-earth barium copper oxide, which is the highest-performance high-temperature superconducting wire segment in the world, and the cost-performance index has been significantly improved at the same time.
The relevant research results were published in the latest issue of Nature Communications magazine on August 7 local time (TapTechNews attaches DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50838-4).
In addition to the researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo, there are also researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and the joint laboratory of the Department of Physics of the University of Salerno in Italy and the CNR-SPIN unit in Salerno.
TapTechNews note: The high temperature in high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) is a concept corresponding to that of low-temperature superconductivity (below 20K, and 20K is also the expected application temperature of commercial nuclear fusion). The required temperature can usually reach 40K (-233°C) or even above -100°C, which is different from the high temperature concept in everyone's daily life.
The State University of New York at Buffalo said that this HTS wire based on rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) has achieved the highest critical current density and pinning force in all magnetic fields and temperature ranges from 5K to 77K (-268°C to -196°C). (The critical current density is the maximum DC current that can be regarded as unobstructed flow in a superconductor. The pinning force is the ability to pin magnetic vortices, which can prevent the flow of flux lines to varying degrees to improve the critical current).
Under 4.2K conditions, its HTS wire can carry 190 million amperes per square centimeter without an external magnetic field; under a 7-tesla magnetic field, it can carry 90 million amperes per square centimeter.
Under the higher 20K (-253°C) condition, its HTS wire can still carry more than 150 million amperes per square centimeter without an external magnetic field; it can carry more than 60 million amperes under a 7-tesla magnetic field.
It is worth noting that although the thickness of the high-temperature superconducting film is only 0.2 μm, the current it transmits can be comparable to that of a commercial superconducting wire that is 10 times thicker. This is also the highest value of the 5-77K critical current density and pinning force under all magnetic fields and operating temperatures reported so far.
Amit Goyal, the corresponding author of the research and a Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York and an Empire Innovation Professor in New York, believes that the latest research results will help guide the industry to further optimize its deposition techniques and manufacturing conditions, thereby significantly improving the cost-performance of commercial coated conductors. These results show that in optimized commercial high-temperature superconducting wires, it is still possible to significantly improve performance and thereby reduce costs.