Research project

PRIN 2017 Braccini 201785KWLE - High performance-low cost Iron BaSed Coated condUctorS for high field magnets (DFM.AD003.316)

Thematic area

Physical sciences and technologies of matter

Project area

Materiali innovativi (DFM.AD003)

Structure responsible for the research project

Institute for superconductors, oxides and other innovative materials and devices (SPIN)

Project manager

VALERIA BRACCINI
Phone number: 010/6598750
Email: valeria.braccini@spin.cnr.it

Abstract

The high field magnets are devices that "cannot do without" superconductor materials. They are used in healthcare, plasma magnetic confinement, energy storage systems and accelerators for high energy physics push the development of magnets with increasing power.
High-field magnets are based on low temperature superconductors (LTS) and nowadays the main focus is on Nb3Sn, with maximum operating field of 20 T at 4.2 K. High temperature superconductors (HTS) present exceptional superconducting properties, which largely overcome these limits, but they exhibit significant drawbacks and result in complicated fabrication processes and thus high cost. Iron-based superconductors (IBS) have characteristics in between LTS and HTS: their encouraging properties have pushed the research to explore the feasibility of IBS in practical conductors.
The challenge of HIBiSCUS is the fabrication of IBS conductor prototypes that meet in a reproducible way the Jc requirements for industrial applications through reliable, simple and cheap techniques, as compared to the state-of-the-art technology. This could set the basis for the full exploitation of IBS in such strategic fields as clean energy production

Goals

The aim of HIBiSCUS is to develop the methodology for fabricating IBS conductors for high magnetic field applications. We will follow the road opened by HTS with the belief that IBSs have many advantages in terms of complexity and costs abatement.We will develop biaxially textured metallic substrates and suitable buffer which will allow textured growth of IBSs, thus providing CCs free of grain boundaries. IBSs will be deposited by Pulsed Laser Ablation.The realized CCs will be subjected to an extensive characterization of their microstructure and superconducting properties to understand the relationship between growth conditions, microstructure and current flow. Characterization of the local superconducting transport properties will be performed by Magneto Optical Imaging and Scanning Hall Probe Microscopy. Microwave measurements will assess the limitations set by the weak links between grains and the kind of flux pinning, and transport Jc measurements at high field will finally assess the achievements of our goal. Irradiations with ions are also foreseen with the goal of investigating the possible degradation of CCs in view of their use in locations with potential radiation hazard

Start date of activity

19/08/2019

Keywords

HIBiSCUS, PRIN, 2017

Last update: 29/03/2024