2009 R&D 100 Winner
High-performance, low-cost, superconducting wires offer numerous advantages for electric power grid applications. However, first and second generation high-temperature superconducting wires based on flat tape geometries have high hysteretic losses. A technological innovation—the Superconducting Wires by Epitaxial Growth on SSIFFS—developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn., has enabled the fabrication of a round or low-aspect ratio, single-crystal superconducting wire. According to the developer, this is the only known technology that allows fabrication of a round or low-aspect ratio, single-crystal, high-temperature superconducting wire, which can operate at temperatures of 65K-77K and has intrinsically low hysteretic AC losses.
This wire is formed by epitaxial deposition of the superconductor on Structural, Single-Crystal, Faceted, Fibers (SSIFFS), which are long, flexible, single-crystal Al2O3 fibers with well-defined crystallographic facets suitable for epitaxial growth of superconductors. This new superconducting wire technology results in a high-performance, low-aspect-ratio or round HTS wire with high performance for wide-ranging applications.
Technology
Superconducting wires
Developer
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
