Superconducting Films on Metal Substrates

IB-935

E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:

• Power transmission
• Superconducting magnets
• Superconducting-based motors and generators
• Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Superconducing interconnects on semiconductors

ADVANTAGES:

• Can carry commercial-level current
• High temperature (77K) superconductors

ABSTRACT:

Paul Berdahl, Ronald Reade and Richard Russo at Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a film deposition process for fabrication of superconducting wire tapes that can carry the large electrical currents needed for commercial usage. Samples can carry nearly a million amperes per square centimeter at 77 K, hundreds of times the current of conventional copper wire. An electrical coil wound with the new wire tapes could produce much higher magnetic fields than a conventional iron-core electromagnet. Coils with these two performance characteristics--greater current density and superconducting magnets with higher magnetic fields--are necessary for high temperature (77 K) superconducting generators and motors to become practical. These more powerful magnets could be used for magnetic resonance imaging, magnetically levitated trains, microwave power generators, and particle accelerators. In addition, the film deposition process has potential applications in electronics, for example in multichip modules where many semiconductor chips are linked with superconducting interconnects.

STATUS: U.S. Patent #5,432,151. Available for non-exclusive licensing

REFERENCE NUMBER: IB-935