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A reliable technique to fabricate superconducting joints between single grain, Y–Ba–Cu–O bulk superconductors

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Change log

Authors

Dennis, A R 
Bumby, C W 
Druiff, H 

Abstract

Abstract: The production of large (RE)Ba–Cu–O single grains ((RE)BCO), where RE = Y, Gd or Sm, of complex geometries is presently limited by the intrinsic slowness of the grain growth process. Additionally, the shapes achievable using established melt processing are constrained by the small number of post-processing techniques available. These materials are brittle and hard, which makes machining a difficult task and largely eliminates the possibility of producing highly intricate shapes. An alternative to this slow and inflexible growth process would be to join many small single grains to form one large composite grain, connected by high-performance superconducting joints. A reliable joining technique would also overcome the need for the careful and time-consuming post-growth machining processes. In this work we report on the use of single grain YBCO–Ag as an interface medium to achieve superconducting joints between (RE)BCO bulks. This joining technique is relatively quick and does not require tight process parameter control as there is no need to re-grow the interface joining material. We report on six joints produced from samples cut and joined in a variety of orientations. In addition, a joint was produced using bulk YBCO from two independent single grains. The trapped field properties of the resulting joined sample were measured and the microstructure at the joint was examined. We show that this simple but effective joining technique makes it possible to produce multiple composite grains with comparable superconducting properties to those of a single grain of the same size.

Description

Keywords

Paper, The Jan Evetts SUST Award 2021, HTS, jointing, microstructure, (RE)BCO, trapped field, YBCO, YBCO–Ag

Journal Title

Superconductor Science and Technology

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0953-2048
1361-6668

Volume Title

34

Publisher

IOP Publishing
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/T014679/1)