YBCO Coated Conductors for 25 Tesla NMR Magnets

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has positioned itself as a key research tool for drug design, the genome projects, the lowering of health care cost, the development of new materials, for new approaches to control diseases, and cleaning and protecting the environment. For structural biology and analytical chemistry NMR has become one of the cornerstones. Increased sensitivity will continue to be a major driver for opening new scientific frontiers for NMR. A key factor in such increases will be higher magnetic field strengths. A magnetic field of 23.5 T, enabling NMR at 1 GHz, has long been a benchmark goal for this field because of the tremendous enhancement in NMR capability it would offer. This Project aims at the development and demonstration of new High Temperature Super-conducting (HTS) YBa2Cu3Ox (YBCO) technology to enable the construction of HTS insert magnets that will generate magnetic fields of 25T in a persistent mode, and enable spectrometers operating at 1066MHz. While YBCO has long been known to have potential for use in high fields, the major challenge of YBCO is the development of a production method that ensures adequate electrical and mechanical performance over long lengths at reasonable cost. A coated conductor architecture has emerged as a promising way to fabricate such a conductor. AMSC has concentrated on low cost approaches to make high quality YBCO Coated Conductors. In particular, the combination of deformation-textured substrates (RABiTS) and solution-based deposition processes are being explored and further developed. The Phase I of this Project demonstrated the feasibility of this concept. In the Phase II longer lengths of YBCO Coated Conductors will be manufactured. Suitable joint technology will be developed. The mechanical and electrical performance will be explored in detail, and optimized for use at 25T. The conductor will see extensive testing at high fields, under conditions that will closely simulate high field insert coils.