High-Temperature Superconducting Tapes Deposited by the Non-Vacuum, Low-Cost Combustion Chemical Vapor Deposition Techni
- PDF / 510,379 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
- 48 Downloads / 198 Views
High-Temperature Superconducting Tapes Deposited by the Non-Vacuum, Low-Cost Combustion Chemical Vapor Deposition Technique
Marvis K. White, Ian H. Campbell, Adam C. King, Steve L. Krebs, Dave S. Mattox, Todd A. Polley, Shara S. Shoup, and Yibin Xue MicroCoating Technologies, Inc, 5315 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Chamblee, GA 30341, U.S.A. ABSTRACT The enormous technological potential of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) was realized immediately following their discovery in 1986, yet these materials largely remain laboratory curiosities as scientists struggle to scale from coupons to long lengths of practical coated conductor. Although both vacuum and non-vacuum processes are being investigated for commercial production, low-throughput vacuum techniques were the first to succeed in producing the buffer and superconducting layers necessary for superconducting tape with high critical currents. However, vacuum processes are not only expensive but impractical when addressing the needs for rapid production of kilometer lengths of wire. The innovative Combustion Chemical Vapor Deposition (CCVD) method used with the Rolling Assisted Biaxially Textured Substrates (RABiTS™) technology has shown significant promise in fabricating the multi-layer structures necessary for successful HTS tape while overcoming many of the shortcomings of traditional vacuum techniques. The key advantage of the CCVD technology is its ability to deposit high quality thin films in the open atmosphere using inexpensive precursor chemicals in solution. As a result, continuous, production-line manufacturing is possible with significantly reduced capital requirements and operating costs when compared to competing vacuum-based technologies. The current status of development for production of long lengths of high-temperature superconductors using CCVD will be discussed. INTRODUCTION Bringing high temperature superconductivity (HTS) to commercial viability in several industries including the electric power industry requires the ability to produce kilometer lengths of flexible tape capable of carrying at least 100 A at a cost, targeted at $10/kA-m, that would make HTS cables competitive with copper. Meeting those goals requires both a tape architecture possessing all the necessary electrical and mechanical properties and production methods giving high throughput at low cost. Architectures having the requisite properties consist of a flexible metal carrier tape, one or more thin film buffer layers to provide a suitable texture template for the superconductor and a barrier against substrate element diffusion into the superconductor, a 12 µm thick second-generation HTS film, and an encapsulating outer film layer providing moisture isolation. Non-vacuum techniques offer the potential for deposition of superior quality buffer, HTS, and encapsulation films at speeds and costs enabling HTS commercialization. Accordingly, a research and development effort at MicroCoating Technologies, Inc. (MCT, Chamblee, GA) is ultimately aimed at producing commercial lengths
Data Loading...
