ИСТИНА

The development of 2G HTS wire (also named coated conductors), the core of which are thin epitaxial REBCO films deposited on textured and buffered metal tapes, is one of most striking achievements of superconducting science and technology. The unique current-carrying capacity of 2G HTS wire (about 500 times higher compared to copper metal), and their appearance at the world market of superconducting materials enable the wide scope of its practical applications. R&D of 2G HTS wire at Inorganic Chemistry Division (MSU) absorbed a rich experience in HTS study, thin films, and MOCVD of oxide materials. This activity, initially based on the conception of MOCVD of YBCO on RABiTS, made possible the obtaining of few meters long tapes with critical current density of MA/cm2 level. Simultaneously a number of related technologies were developed, namely tapes rolling, electropolishing, sputtering, electroplating etc., and the equipment for these roll-to-roll processes was designed and constructed. On this base SuperOx company (www.superox.ru) was registered in 2006 with the aim of 2G HTS wire commercial production and it’s practical application. For reliable and reproducible superconducting properties of production 2G HTS wire, it is essential to secure consistent and reproducible composition and microstructure of the HTS layer in the wire architecture, on a daily basis, over years of operation. To meet these requirements the technological paradigm was changed for “PLD on IBAD substrate”. Now SuperOx has implemented IBAD and sputtering techniques for fabrication of the substrate with textured buffer layers and the robust pulsed laser deposition method for the HTS layer fabrication. The great variety of HTS applications dictates fundamentally different modes and conditions of 2G HTS wire operation in corresponding devices: temperature, current, magnetic field, mechanical stress, vibration, electric field density, etc. Therefore, 2G HTS wire intended for a certain application has to meet a specific set of requirements, in other words it must be customized to that application. SuperOx has made deep and thorough customization of 2G HTS wire, it’s key differentiation point on the wire market. In this talk, we review the fabrication and quality control processes for SuperOx 2G HTS wire and discuss the superconducting properties of our wire, it’s customized options and some trends of further development. In particular, the results of our research aimed to improve the stability of critical current density of 2G HTS wire in high magnetic field by making thin film composites of superconducting RBaCuO (R=Gd,Y) with nanoinclusions of non-superconducting perovskites BaCeO3, BaSnO3 are communicated. The participation of SuperOx in current national and European projects aimed to design superconducting equipment with the use of our wire is also reviewed.