Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Current-limiting mechanisms in individual filaments extracted from superconducting tapes

Nature volume 392, pages 906–909 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Many large-scale applications of high-temperature superconductors depend crucially on the ability to achieve high critical-current densities Jc (of the order of 105 A cm−2). Existing silver-sheathed (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox (BSCCO) tapes have Jc values that come within about 25% of this target1,2,3,4, these values being limited by the fact that thesupercurrent flows percolatively around barriers that occur over many length scales5. To elucidate the nature of these barriers, we have measured the transport properties of individual filaments extracted from very-high-Jc multifilament tapes6. We find that Jc for individual filaments reaches at least 8× 104 A cm−2—about 50% higher than the average value over the whole cross-section of the wire. Although we injected the current to flow along the crystallographic a–b planes of the material, we found that all filaments possessed local characteristics of c-axis transport, indicating the presence of occasional nanometre- to micrometre-scale barriers at basal-plane-faced grain boundaries. An independent and much larger limiting influence on the critical current comes from unhealed cracks produced by deformation during the processing of the wires. These results provide direct evidence that better processing methods aimed at improving the c-axis alignment and at inhibiting residual cracks should raise the accessible Jc values towards those needed for applications.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Images of isolated filaments and the whole tape.
Figure 2: Resistance versus temperature measurements.
Figure 3: Features of the transport behaviour of high-Jc filaments for currents applied parallel to the filament axis which are similar to those observed for c-axis transport in Bi-2212 single crystals.
Figure 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Leghissa, M. et al. Bi-2223 multifilament tapes and multistrand conductors for HTS power transmission cables. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 7, 355–358 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hayashi, K. et al. Development of Ag-sheathed Bi2223 superconducting wires and their application to magnets. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 7, 2201–2206 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Marti, F., Grasso, G., Huang, Y. & Flukiger, R. High critical current densities in long lengths of mono- and multifilamentary Ag-sheathed Bi(2223) tapes. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 7, 2215–2218 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Buczek, D. M. et al. Manufacturing of HTS composite wire for a superconducting power transmission cable demonstration. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 7, 2196–2200 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Larbalestier, D. C. The road to conductors of high temperature superconductors: 10 years do make a difference! IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 7, 90–97 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Li, Q. et al. Progress in superconducting performance of rolled multifilamentary Bi-2223 HTS composite conductors. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 7, 2026–2029 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Larbalestier, D. C. et al. Position-sensitive measurements of the local critical-current density in Ag sheathed high-temperature superconductor (Bi, Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Oytapes. Physica C 221, 299–303 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Parrell, J. A., Polyanskii, A. A., Pashitski, A. E. & Larbalestier, D. C. Direct evidence for residual, preferentially-oriented cracks in rolled and pressed Ag-clad BSCCO-2223 tapes and their effect on the critical current density. Supercond. Sci. Technol. 9, 393–398 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Schuster, Th. et al. Current capability of filaments depending on their position in (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10-multifilament tapes. Appl. Phys. Lett. 69, 1954–1956 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Han, Z., Skov-Hansen, P. & Freltoft, T. The mechanical deformation of superconducting BiSrCaCuO/Ag composites. Supercond. Sci. Technol. 10, 371–381 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Cho, J. H. et al. Determination of the superconducting current path in Bi2223/Ag tapes. Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 3030–3032 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Willis, J. O. et al. Dependence of the angular anisotropy of the critical current density on texture in silver-sheathed Bi-2223 tapes. Adv. Cryogen. Eng. 40, 9–16 (1994).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Thurston, T. R. et al. Synchrotron x-ray scattering measurements of bulk structural properties in superconducting (Bi,Pb)(2)Sr2Ca2Cu3O10-Ag tapes. J. Appl. Phys. 79, 3122–3132 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kleiner, R. & Muller, P. Intrinsic Josephson effects in high-Tcsuperconductors. Phys. Rev. B 49, 1327–1341 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Cho, J. H., Maley, M. P., Fleshler, S., Lacerda, A. & Bulaevskii, L. N. High-magnetic-field transport-properties of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8single-crystals. Phys. Rev. B 50, 6493–6496 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Luo, S., Yang, G. & Gough, C. E. Field and temperature-dependence of the c-axis critical current in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8single crystals at the melting and 2-dimensional decomposition fields. Phys. Rev. B 51, 6655–6662 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Briceno, G., Crommie, M. F. & Zettel, A. Giant out-of-plane magnetoresistance in Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O—a new dissipation mechanism in copper-oxide superconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 2164–2167 (1991).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Rodriguez, E., Goffman, M. F., Arribere, A., de la Cruz, F. & Schneemeyer, L. F. Critical-state of the weakly coupled 2-dimensional superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 3375–3378 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Li, Q., Wiesmann, H. J., Suenaga, M., Motowidlo, L. & Haldar, P. Observation of vortex-glass-to-liquid transition in the high-Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10. Phys. Rev. B 50, 4256–4259 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Feng, Y. & Larbalestier, D. C. Texture relationships and interface structure in Ag-sheathed Bi(Pb)-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconducting tapes. Interface Sci. 1, 401–410 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Eibl, O. The high-Tc compound (Bi,Pb)(2)Sr2Ca2Cu3O10: Features of the structure and microstructure relevant for devices in magnet and energy technology. Supercond. Sci. Technol. 8, 833–861 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Larbalestier, D. C. et al. in Proc. European Conf. on Applied Superconductivity (EUCAS) 29–34 (Conf. Proc. 148, Inst. Phys., Bristol, 1995).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Parrell, J. A. et al. Enhancement of the 77 K irreversibility field and critical current density of (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Oxtapes by manipulation of the final cooling rate. Appl. Phys. Lett. 69, 2915–2917 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Anderson, J. W., Dorris, S. E., Parrell, J. A. & Larbalestier, D. C. The effect of lead content on the critical current density, irreversibility field, and microstructure of Ag-clad Bi1.8PbxSr2Ca2Cu3Oytapes. J.Mater. Res.(submitted).

  25. Hakuraku, Y. & Mori, Z. Rapid annealing effect in the superconducting 2223 Bi(Pb)SrCaCuO thin-films prepared by sputtering. J. Appl. Phys. 73, 309–315 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Wagner, P., Frey, U., Hillmer, F. & Adrian, H. Evidence for a vortex-liquid vortex-glass transition in epitaxial Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10thin-films. Phys. Rev. B 51, 1206–1212 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank J. Anderson, E. Hellstrom, A. Gurevich, J. Parrell, A. Pashitski and Y. Wu for experimental help and discussions. This work was supported by EPRI and NSF-funded MRSEC.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Superconductivity Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, 53706, Wisconsin, USA

    X. Y. Cai, A. Polyanskii & D. C. Larbalestier

  2. Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Science, 142432, Chernogolovka, Russia

    A. Polyanskii

  3. American Superconductor Corporation, Westborough, 01581, Massachusetts, USA

    Q. Li & G. N. Riley Jr

Authors
  1. X. Y. Cai
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Polyanskii
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Q. Li
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. G. N. Riley Jr
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. D. C. Larbalestier
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. C. Larbalestier.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cai, X., Polyanskii, A., Li, Q. et al. Current-limiting mechanisms in individual filaments extracted from superconducting tapes. Nature 392, 906–909 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/31907

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/31907

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing