Low Cost Deposition of Buffer Layers for Manufacturable YBCO HTS Conductors

64 Low Cost Deposition of Buffer Layers for Manufacturable YBCO HTS Conductors--American Superconductor Corporation, Two Technology Drive, Westborough, MA 01581-1727; (508) 836-4200 Dr. Martin W. Rupich, Principal Investigator Mr. Ramesh Ratan, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-97ER82324 Amount: $75,000 Recent advances in the deposition of Yttrium Barium Copper Oxygen (YBCO) films have demonstrated the technical feasibility of fabricating long-length high temperature superconductors (HTS) conductors from thick film YBCO tapes for potential use in such areas as power electronics, medical equipment, specialty magnets, and magnetic levitation trains. In order to develop this promising technology into an economical manufacturing process, it is critical to develop low cost manufacturing processes, for the fabrication of the substrate, the buffer layer and the YBCO layer. This project will develop a low cost, non-vacuum based process for the buffer layer deposition in this program. The proposed process is scaleable to long lengths of continuous conductors and is an inherently low cost technique. Initial work in this area has demonstrated the formation of expitaxial oxide buffer and the subsequent of YBCO films with the performance required for commercial applications. The goal of the Phase I program is to demonstrate the capability of applying this process to the deposition of oxide buffer layers on the metal substrates required for actual conductors. The Phase II program will be directed to the scale up of equipment and optimization of processing conditions required for the manufacture of continuous conductors with lengths exceeding 100 meters. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The development of a low cost process for the manufacture of YBCO tape conductors will allow the production of the next generation of HTS conductors at a manufacturing cost below the $ 10 kA-m benchmark for commercialization. The superior high field performance of the YBCO conductors will allow their use in commercial and military applications including motors, generators, SMES, current limiters, transformers and power transmission cables at temperatures in the 77 K range. The commercialization of HTS will also result in significant energy savings and the development of new technologies and manufacturing jobs.