Novel BSCCO Composites for High-Field Superconductor Technology

50530-98-I Novel BSCCO Composites for High-Field Superconductor Technology--American Superconductor Corporation, Two Technology Drive, Westborough, MA 01581-1727; (508) 836-4200 Dr. G. N. Riley, Jr., Principal Investigator Dr. Alexis P. Malozemoff, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER82530 Amount: $75,000 To achieve its mission, the high energy physics program at DOE needs improved high-field superconductor technology to enable next generation machines with magnetic field performance in the range of 15-20 Tesla. Short lengths of high temperature superconductors based on Bi-2223 and fabricated using demonstrated scalable processes have already achieved very promising superconductor critical current densities in this field range, approaching 1500 A/mm2 in a 12 T field at 4.2 K. However, BiSrCaCuO composites have not yet been made available with price-performance metrics appropriate for high energy physics; performance improvements are still required and costs must be significantly reduced. This project will investigate a novel BiSrCaCuO composite fabrication process that will directly address these challenges and is potentially ideally suited for high energy physics applications. Phase I will evaluate and develop a new long length manufacturing process that potentially allows for new wire and cable design paradigms. Low cost BiSrCaCuO material will be developed for high energy physics applications with current densities far greater than the minimum target of 250 A/mm2 in fields of 12 T at 4.2 K. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Advanced high performance, low cost BiSrCaCuO materials should advance the state-of-the-art of high energy physics machines, and facilitate other government and commercial high temperature superconductor applications that are dependent on performance and price._