FABRICATION OF HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTOR FILAMENTS FROM METAL-CONTAING POLYMERIC PRECURSORS

THE USE OF METAL-CONTAINING POLYMERS AS PRECURSORS TO HIGH CRITICAL TEMPERATURE (T(C)) SUPERCONDUCTING FILAMENTS WILL BE EXPLORED THROUGH A PROPRIETARY LOW-TEMPERATURE SOLUTION SYNTHESIS. CAREFUL EVALUATION OF THE PERTINENT CHEMICAL LITERATURE WILL BE DONE TO OPTIMIZE THE STARTING MATERIAL COMBINATION AND TO HELP DETERMINE ADEQUATE EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS THAT WILL YIELD A HOMOGENEOUS, POLYMERIC PRECURSOR WITH THE EXPECTED BA-Y-CU COMPOSITION RATIO. APPROPRIATE FIRING AND OXYGEN ANNEALING PROCESSING CYCLES WILL BE DETERMINED SUBSEQUENTLY IN ORDER TO OBTAIN DENSE, HOMOGENEOUS, FULLY REACTED YBA(2)CU(3)O(7)-X SUPERCONDUCTING FILAMENTS OF GREATER QUALITY THAN CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM CONVENTIONAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A DEGREE OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESS, AS WELL AS TO OPTIMIZE IT, SEVERAL CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES WILL BE APPLIED. THESE INCLUDE SOLUTION SPECTROSCOPY METHODS, SUCH AS INFRARED, NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE, AND ULTRAVIOLET/VISIBLE METHODS; CONTACTLESS METHODS TO DETERMINE T(C), CURRENT DENSITY, AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES; AND X-RAY DIFFRACTION AND SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER AND PURITY OF THE PHASES PRESENT, AS WELL AS TO CHARACTERIZE THE SAMPLE MICROSTRUCTURE. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND INTEGRITY OF THE HIGH T(C), FILAMENTS PRODUCED WILL BE MEASURED TO HELP DETERMINE WHETHER THE MATERIALS WILL MEET THE NECESSARY CRITERIA FOR THEIR ULTIMATE APPLICATION INTO PRACTICAL DEVICES.