Anthony R. Dennis

A trapped field of 17.6 T in melt-processed, bulk Gd-Ba-Cu-O reinforced with shrink-fit steel

The ability of large-grain (RE)Ba2Cu3O7−δ ((RE)BCO; RE = rare earth) bulk superconductors to trap magnetic fields is determined by their critical current. With high trapped fields, however, bulk samples are subject to a relatively large Lorentz force, and their performance is limited primarily by their tensile strength. Consequently, sample reinforcement is the key to performance improvement in these technologically important materials. In this work, we report a trapped field of 17.6 T, the largest reported to date, in a stack of two silver-doped GdBCO superconducting bulk samples, each 25 mm in diameter, fabricated by top-seeded melt growth and reinforced with shrink-fit stainless steel. This sample preparation technique has the advantage of being relatively straightforward and inexpensive to implement, and offers the prospect of easy access to portable, high magnetic fields without any requirement for a sustaining current source.

Influence of soft ferromagnetic sections on the magnetic flux density profile of a large grain, bulk Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductor

Bulk, high temperature superconductors have significant potential for use as powerful permanent magnets in a variety of practical applications due to their ability to trap record magnetic fields. In this paper, soft ferromagnetic sections are combined with a bulk, large grain Y–Ba–Cu–O high temperature superconductor to form superconductor/ferromagnet hybrid structures. We study how the ferromagnetic sections influence the shape of the profile of the trapped magnetic induction at the surface of each structure and report the surface magnetic flux density measured by Hall probe mapping. These configurations have been modelled using a 2D axisymmetric finite element method based on the H -formulation and the results show excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experimental measurements. The model has also been used to study the magnetic flux distribution and predict the behaviour for other constitutive laws and geometries. The results show that the ferromagnetic material acts as a magnetic shield, but the flux density and its gradient are enhanced on the face opposite to the ferromagnet. The thickness and saturation magnetization of the ferromagnetic material are important and a characteristic ferromagnet thickness d* is derived: below d*, saturation of the ferromagnet occurs, and above d*, a weak thickness-dependence is observed. The influence of the ferromagnet is observed even if its saturation magnetization is lower than the trapped flux density of the superconductor. Conversely, thin ferromagnetic discs can be driven to full saturation even though the outer magnetic field is much smaller than their saturation magnetization.

Seeded Infiltration and Growth of Bulk YBCO Nano-Composites

The seeded infiltration and growth (SIG) technique offers near-net shape processing of bulk superconductors with significant improvement in reduced Y₂BaCuO₅ (Y-211) inclusion size, reduced shrinkage, reduced porosity and improved current density compared to samples fabricated by top seeded melt growth (TSMG). Y₂Ba₄CuMO_y phases where M = Nb, Mo, W, Ta, etc., have been shown to form nano-scale inclusions in the YBa₂Cu₃O<i>y</i> (Y-123) phase matrix and to contribute to enhanced magnetic flux pinning in these materials. In this paper, we describe the introduction of Y₂Ba₄CuWO_y nano-scale inclusions into bulk superconductors processed by the seeded infiltration growth process. Critical current density, <i>J</i>_c, in excess of 10⁵ A/cm² at 77 K in self-field is observed for samples containing Y₂Ba₄CuWO_y.

Bulk YBCO seeded with 45°–45° bridge-seeds of different lengths

Single grain, (RE)BCO bulk superconductors in large or complicated geometries are required for a variety of potential applications, such as motors and generators and magnetic shielding devices. As a result, top, multi-seeded, melt growth (TMSMG) has been investigated over the past two years in an attempt to enlarge the size of (RE)BCO single grains specifically for such applications. Of these multi-seeding techniques, so-called bridge seeding provides the best alignment of two seeds in a single grain growth process. Here we report, for the first time, the successful growth of YBCO using a special, 45{\deg} - 45{\deg}, arrangement of bridge-seeds. The superconducting properties, including trapped field, of the multi-seeded YBCO grains have been measured for different bridge lengths of the 45{\deg}- 45{\deg} bridge-seeds. The boundaries at the impinging growth front and the growth features of the top, multi-seeded surface and cross-section of the multi-seeded, samples have been analysed using optical microscopy. The results suggest that an impurity-free boundary between the two seeds of each leg of the bridge-seed can form when 45{\deg}- 45{\deg} bridge-seeds are used to enlarge the size of YBCO grains.

The use of buffer pellets to pseudo hot seed (RE)-Ba-Cu-O-(Ag) single grain bulk superconductors

Reliable seeding of the superconducting (RE)Ba2Cu3O7−δ (RE-123) phase is a critical step in the melt growth of large, single grain, (RE)BaCuO ((RE)BCO) bulk superconductors. Recent improvements to the top seeded melt growth (TSMG) processing technique, which is an established method of fabricating bulk (RE)BCO superconductors, based on the use of a buffer layer between the seed and green body preform, has significantly improved the reliability of the single grain growth process. This technique has been used successfully for the primary TSMG and infiltration melt growth of all compositions within the ((RE)BCO–Ag) family of materials (where RE = Sm, Gd and Y), and in recycling processes. However, the mechanism behind the improved reliability of the melt process is not understood fully and its effect on the superconducting properties of the fully processed single grains is not clear. In this paper, we investigate the effect of the use of a buffer pellet between the seed and green body on the microstructure, critical current, critical temperature and trapped field of the bulk superconductor. We conclude that the introduction of the buffer pellet evolves the melt growth process towards that observed in the technologically challenging hot seeding technique, but has the potential to yield high quality single grain samples but by a commercially viable melt process.

Control of Y-211 content in bulk YBCO superconductors fabricated by a buffer-aided, top seeded infiltration and growth melt process

Bulk (RE)–Ba–Cu–O ((RE)BCO, where RE stands for rare-earth), single grain superconductors can trap magnetic fields of several tesla at low temperatures and therefore can function potentially as high field magnets. Although top seeded melt growth (TSMG) is an established process for fabricating relatively high quality single grains of (RE)BCO for high field applications, this technique suffers from inherent problems such as sample shrinkage, a large intrinsic porosity and the presence of (RE)2BaCuO5 (RE-211)-free regions in the single grain microstructure. Seeded infiltration and growth (SIG), therefore, has emerged as a practical alternative to TSMG that overcomes many of these problems. Until now, however, the superconducting properties of bulk materials processed by SIG have been inferior to those fabricated using the TSMG technique. In this study, we identify that the inferior properties of SIG processed bulk superconductors are related to the presence of a relatively large Y-211 content (~41.8%) in the single grain microstructure. Controlling the RE-211 content in SIG bulk samples is particularly challenging because it is difficult to regulate the entry of the liquid phase into the solid RE-211 preform during the infiltration process. In an attempt to solve this issue, we have investigated the effect of careful control of both the infiltration temperature and the quantity of liquid phase powder present in the sample preforms prior to processing. We conclude that careful control of the infiltration temperature is the most promising of these two process variables. Using this knowledge, we have fabricated successfully a YBCO bulk single grain using the SIG process of diameter 25 mm that exhibits a trapped field of 0.69 T at 77 K, which is the largest value reported to date for a sample fabricated by the SIG technique.

A novel, two-step top seeded infiltration and growth process for the fabrication of single grain, bulk (RE)BCO superconductors

A fundamental requirement of the fabrication of high performing, (RE)–Ba–Cu–O bulk superconductors is achieving a single grain microstructure that exhibits good flux pinning properties. The top seeded melt growth (TSMG) process is a well-established technique for the fabrication of single grain (RE)BCO bulk samples and is now applied routinely by a number of research groups around the world. The introduction of a buffer layer to the TSMG process has been demonstrated recently to improve significantly the general reliability of the process. However, a number of growth-related defects, such as porosity and the formation of micro-cracks, remain inherent to the TSMG process, and are proving difficult to eliminate by varying the melt process parameters. The seeded infiltration and growth (SIG) process has been shown to yield single grain samples that exhibit significantly improved microstructures compared to the TSMG technique. Unfortunately, however, SIG leads to other processing challenges, such as the reliability of fabrication, optimisation of RE2BaCuO5 (RE-211) inclusions (size and content) in the sample microstructure, practical oxygenation of as processed samples and, hence, optimisation of the superconducting properties of the bulk single grain. In the present paper, we report the development of a near-net shaping technique based on a novel two-step, buffer-aided top seeded infiltration and growth (BA-TSIG) process, which has been demonstrated to improve greatly the reliability of the single grain growth process and has been used to fabricate successfully bulk, single grain (RE)BCO superconductors with improved microstructures and superconducting properties. A trapped field of ~0.84 T and a zero field current density of 60 kA cm−2 have been measured at 77 K in a bulk, YBCO single grain sample of diameter 25 mm processed by this two-step BA-TSIG technique. To the best of our knowledge, this value of trapped field is the highest value ever reported for a sample fabricated by an infiltration and growth process. In this study we report the successful fabrication of 14 YBCO samples, with diameters of up to 32 mm, by this novel technique with a success rate of greater than 92%.

Use of Mixed-Powder Buffers to Assist the Growth of SmBCO and ZrO 2 -doped SmBCO Single Grain, Bulk Superconductors

In this paper single domain, bulk SmBCO samples have been fabricated successfully in air in a top-seeded melt growth (TSMG) process using a conventional chamber furnace, in addition to samples doped with ZrO2. To improve the reliability of seeding, Sm-123 + Sm-211 mixed-powder buffers were used to increase the success of the SmBCO single grain growth process. SmBCO single grains of diameter as large as 20 mm and 10 mm in thickness with and without ZrO2 were fabricated successfully using Sm-123 + Sm2BaCuO5 (Sm-211) mixed-powder buffer layers. The geometric configurations of the buffers were also optimized as part of this study to further increase the success of the single grain growth process. Superconducting properties of JC and TC of the specimens under the buffer layer have also been investigated.

A flux extraction device to measure the magnetic moment of large samples; application to bulk superconductors

We report the design and construction of a flux extraction device to measure the DC magnetic moment of large samples (i.e., several cm(3)) at cryogenic temperature. The signal is constructed by integrating the electromotive force generated by two coils wound in series-opposition that move around the sample. We show that an octupole expansion of the magnetic vector potential can be used conveniently to treat near-field effects for this geometrical configuration. The resulting expansion is tested for the case of a large, permanently magnetized, type-II superconducting sample. The dimensions of the sensing coils are determined in such a way that the measurement is influenced by the dipole magnetic moment of the sample and not by moments of higher order, within user-determined upper bounds. The device, which is able to measure magnetic moments in excess of 1 A m(2) (1000 emu), is validated by (i) a direct calibration experiment using a small coil driven by a known current and (ii) by comparison with the results of numerical calculations obtained previously using a flux measurement technique. The sensitivity of the device is demonstrated by the measurement of flux-creep relaxation of the magnetization in a large bulk superconductor sample at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K).

Improvements in the processing of large grain, bulk Y–Ba–Cu–O superconductors via the use of additional liquid phase

A major limitation to the widespread application of Y–Ba–Cu–O (YBCO) bulk superconductors is the relative complexity and low yield of the top seeded melt growth (TSMG) process, by which these materials are commonly fabricated. It has been demonstrated in previous work on the recycling of samples in which the primary growth had failed, that the provision of an additional liquid-rich phase to replenish liquid lost during the failed growth process leads to the reliable growth of relatively high quality recycled samples. In this paper we describe the adaptation of the liquid phase enrichment technique to the primary TSMG fabrication process. We further describe the observed differences between the microstructure and superconducting properties of samples grown with additional liquid-rich phase and control samples grown using a conventional TSMG process. We observe that the introduction of the additional liquid-rich phase leads to the formation of a higher concentration of Y species at the growth front, which leads, in turn, to a more uniform composition at the growth front. Importantly, the increased uniformity at the growth front leads directly to an increased homogeneity in the distribution of the Y-211 inclusions in the superconducting Y-123 phase matrix and to a more uniform Y-123 phase itself. Overall, the provision of an additional liquid-rich phase improves significantly both the reliability of grain growth through the sample thickness and the magnitude and homogeneity of the superconducting properties of these samples compared to those fabricated by a conventional TSMG process.