HIGH CRITICAL CURRENT DENSITY SUPERCONDUCTING OXIDES VIA A THREE DIMENSIONAL TEMPLATE

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PRODUCE HIGH CRITICAL CURRENT (JC) SUPERCONDUCTING OXIDE (SCO) FIBERS, FILMS, AND SHAPES BY ORIENTING THE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE. THIS IS BEING ACCOMPLISHED BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE HIGH TEMPERATURE CAPABILITY AND OPEN FIBILLAR NETWORK OF CERTAIN LIQUID CRYSTAL POLYMERS (LCP). THE OPEN, CONNECTED, AND ORIENTED NETWORK IS FILLED USING SOL-GEL TECHNIQUES, AND THEN FIRED. SINCE THE LCPS MAINTAIN THEIR STRUCTURE AT HIGHER TEMPERATURE (600 DEGREES CENTIGRADE) THAN THE PEROVSKITES TAKE TO FORM (ABOUT 500 DEGREES CENTIGRADE), THE LCPS ACT ASA THREE-DIMENSIONAL TEMPLATE AND FORCE THE ORIENTATION OF THE SCO CRYSTALS AS THEY FORM. THE LCPS WILL EVENTUALLY BURN OFF, LEAVING AN INTERCONNECTED AND PROPERLY ORIENTED SCO MATRIX. A POTENTIAL BENEFIT OF THIS PROCESS IS THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE NET SHAPE ORIENTED HIGH JC PARTS WITH APPLICATION IN HIGH CURRENT DENSITY ITEMS SUCH AS ELECTRONICINTERCONNECTS, WHICH ARE PRESENTLY BEYOND THE RANGE OF HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS.