HIGH FIELD, HIGH TC SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS

THE DISCOVERY OF SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AT HIGH TEMPERATURES (90 K) IN COPPER CONTAINING CERAMICS HAS RESULTED IN THE RAPID ACCELERATION OF SUPERCONDUCTOR RESEARCH. MUCH OF THISRESEARCH IS BEING DIRECTED AT PRODUCING AND EXAMINING NEW COMPOUNDS BOTH TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS AND TOBETTER UNDERSTAND THE PHENOMENON. REALIZING THE POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL BENEFITS OF THIS NEW DISCOVERY DEPENDS AS MUCH ON ADVANCES IN PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY AS ON MATERIALS RESEARCH. MANY APPLICATIONS FOR HIGH TC SUPERCONDUCTORS, INCLUDING MAGNETS, MAKE USE OF LARGE AREA FILMS AND TAPES. HOWEVER, MANY OF THE PROCESSES FOR MAKING THIN FILM SUPERCONDUCTORS ARE LIMITED TO EXPENSIVE, SMALL SCALE, LABORATORY TECHNIQUES. THE PROPOSEDPROGRAM WILL INVESTIGATE THE USE OF A PROVEN, LOW COST PROCESS, CHEMICAL SPRAY PYROLYSIS, TO DEPOSIT VERY LARGE AREA SUPERCONDUCTOR FILMS. THIS INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR FABRICATING THIN AND THICK FILM SUPERCONDUCTORS IS EXTREMELYVERSATILE AND SHOULD ALLOW FOR RAPID IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ELECTRICAL, MAGNETIC AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE FILMS. IN THIS PROGRAM, WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEPOSITING LARGE AREA, HIGH QUALITY FILMS OF T12CA2BA2CU3O10SUPERCONDUCTORS USING SPRAY PYROLYSIS. THIS TECHNIQUE WILL BE STUDIED WITH THE SPECIFIC GOAL OF DEVELOPING A HIGH FIELDSUPERCONDUCTING ELECTROMAGNET.