Laminated HTS Wire with Conductive Stabilizer
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High temperature superconductor (HTS) wires face challenges in maintaining crystalline alignment over long distances, which limits their current carrying capacity, and are susceptible to mechanical damage and environmental degradation, affecting their efficiency and reliability in commercial applications.
Innovation Solution
A laminated superconductor design featuring a multilayer structure with a biaxially textured substrate, buffer layers, and a cap layer, where the HTS layer is sandwiched between conductive strips and sealed with a nonporous electrically conductive filler to enhance mechanical and electrical stability, and protect against environmental exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If HTS material is grown epitaxially on a textured substrate to maintain crystalline alignment, then critical current density is improved, but the complexity of manufacturing increases due to multiple buffer layers and precise deposition requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the HTS wire into multiple functional segments: a substrate providing mechanical support, buffer layers providing crystallographic template and diffusion barrier, an HTS layer providing superconducting properties, and a stabilizing matrix providing mechanical reinforcement. This segmentation allows each layer to be optimized independently while maintaining overall crystalline alignment through the epitaxial relationship between buffer layers and HTS material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures combining different functional layers: metallic substrates (e.g., Ni-W alloys) with specific magnetic and mechanical properties, oxide buffer layers (e.g., YSZ, CeO2) with matched thermal expansion coefficients, high-Tc superconducting ceramics (e.g., YBCO), and stabilizing matrices. This composite approach resolves the contradiction by integrating crystalline alignment requirements with manufacturing feasibility through carefully selected material combinations.
2Strength
If the HTS layer is made thin to reduce mechanical stress, then flexibility is improved, but current carrying capacity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple HTS layers within a single stabilizing matrix structure, creating a laminated composite where several thin HTS layers contribute their collective current carrying capacity while each individual layer remains thin enough to accommodate mechanical bending stresses. The stabilizing matrix binds these layers together, distributing mechanical loads and preventing delamination, thus resolving the contradiction between thin-layer flexibility and adequate current capacity.
3Reliability
If buffer layers are added to prevent diffusion and enhance adhesion, then reliability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses buffer layers as intermediary structures between the metallic substrate and the ceramic HTS layer. These buffer layers serve multiple functions: they provide a crystallographic template for epitaxial growth of the HTS layer, act as diffusion barriers preventing intermixing of substrate and HTS materials, and serve as adhesion promoters. Common buffer layer compositions include YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia), CeO2 (ceria), and MgO (magnesia), deposited via techniques such as PLD, MOCVD, or sputtering. This intermediary approach resolves the contradiction by enabling reliable diffusion prevention while using well-established deposition technologies.
4Reliability
If the wire is sealed to protect from environmental degradation, then reliability is improved, but electrical contact efficiency may worsen due to additional layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the outer layers of the HTS wire to perform multiple functions simultaneously. The cap layer and stabilizing matrix not only provide environmental protection by sealing the HTS layer from moisture and oxygen, but also serve as electrical conduits for current input and output. Conductive stabilizing matrices (e.g., copper or silver-infused composites) provide both mechanical reinforcement and electrical pathways, eliminating the need for separate contact structures and resolving the contradiction between protective sealing and electrical accessibility.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design improves current sharing, mechanical properties, and environmental isolation, while providing efficient electrical contact and stabilization against overcurrents, leading to enhanced reliability and performance of HTS wires.
Implementation Method 1
HTS materials can be fabricated with a high degree of crystallographic alignment or texture over large areas by growing a thin layer of the material epitaxially on top of a flexible tape-shaped substrate, fabricated so that it has a high degree of crystallographic texture at its surface
Implementation Method 2
Buffer layers also can provide the additional benefit of preventing diffusion over time of atoms from the substrate material into the crystalline lattice of the HTS material or of oxygen into the substrate material
Implementation Method 3
The electrically conductive structure includes a first conductive strip and a second conductive strip, wherein the superconductor wire insert is interposed between and is in electrical contact with the first and second conductive strips
Implementation Method 4
A laminated superconductor design featuring a multilayer structure with a biaxially textured substrate, buffer layers, and a cap layer, where the HTS layer is sandwiched between conductive strips and sealed with a nonporous electrically conductive filler to enhance mechanical and electrical stability
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
A laminated superconductor wire includes a superconductor wire assembly, which includes a first superconductor insert comprising a first high temperature superconductor layer overlaying a first substrate and a second superconductor insert comprising a second high temperature superconductor layer overlaying a second substrate. The first and second superconductor inserts are joined together at their respective substrates. An electrically conductive structure substantially surrounds the superconductor wire assembly.