Open AccessSuperconducting properties of commercial REBCO-coated conductors with artificial pinning centers
Author(s) -
K. Tsuchiya,
Xudong Wang,
S. Fujita,
Ataru Ichinose,
Kyohei Yamada,
A. Terashima,
A. Kikuchi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
superconductor science and technology/superconductor science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.033
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1361-6668
pISSN - 0953-2048
DOI - 10.1088/1361-6668/ac1e65
Subject(s) - electrical conductor , materials science , superconductivity , magnet , niobium tin , superconducting magnet , magnetic field , yttrium barium copper oxide , nuclear magnetic resonance , composite material , condensed matter physics , critical current , electrical engineering , physics , engineering , quantum mechanics
Over the last 20 years, technologies for manufacturing rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO)-coated conductors have undergone a steady development. Currently, the properties of these conductors are reasonably stable owing to the intensive efforts of the manufacturers. However, for high-field magnet applications, such as the magnets used in nuclear magnetic resonance instruments, accelerators, and fusion reactors, further enhancements in the current-carrying capabilities and/or the current densities of the conductors under a high magnetic field are necessary. Recently, several conductors doped with artificial pinning centers (APCs) have become commercially available, primarily from four manufacturers: Fujikura, Shanghai ST, SuperOx, and SuperPower. In this study, we characterized these relatively new conductors from the viewpoint of a magnet designer. We measured the critical currents ( I c ) of full-size 4 mm wide conductors in a wide field range at 4.2 K and 77 K; we also measured the critical temperatures. The measurement results showed that the I c values at 4.2 K under perpendicular fields for these conductors are significantly greater than those of non-APC conductors; for the 4 mm wide conductors, the I c values are in the range of 300–740 A and 450–1000 A at 18 T and 12 T, respectively. Furthermore, we clarified that the non-Cu current density ( J c ) at 4.2 K for some of the investigated conductors is more than twice the J c of the recent Nb 3 Sn conductors in fields exceeding 15 T. In the investigated commercial REBCO-APC conductors, the highest layer J c of ∼60 kA mm −2 (at 18 T and 4.2 K) was noted. We also investigated the I c – B relationship at 4.2 K for the recent REBCO-APC conductors.