Abstract
High temperature superconducting (HTS) wires capable of carrying large critical currents with low dissipation levels in high applied magnetic fields are needed for a wide range of applications. In particular, for electric power applications involving rotating machinery, such as large-scale motors and generators, a high critical current, Ic, and a high engineering critical
current density, JE, in applied magnetic fields in the range of 3�5 Tesla (T) at 65 K are required. In addition, exceeding the minimum performance requirements needed for these applications results in a lower fabrication cost, which is regarded as crucial to realize or enable many large-scale bulk applications of HTS materials. Here we report the fabrication of short segments
of a potential superconducting wire comprised of a 4 �m thick YBa2Cu3O7−� (YBCO) layer on a biaxially textured substrate with a 50% higher Ic and JE than the highest values reported previously. The YBCO film contained columns of self-assembled nanodots of BaZrO3 (BZO) roughly oriented along the c-axis of YBCO. Although the YBCO film was grown at a high deposition rate, three-dimensional self-assembly of the insulating BZO nanodots still occurred. For all magnetic field orientations, minimum Ic and JE at 65 K, 3 T for the wire were 353 A cm−1 and 65.4 kA cm−2, respectively.