Test results of fault current limiter using YBCO tapes with shunt protection

A Fault Current Limiter (FCL) based on high temperature superconducting elements with four tapes in parallel were designed and tested in 220 V line for a fault current peak between 1 kA to 4 kA. The elements employed second generation (2G) HTS tapes of YBCO coated conductor with stainless steel reinforcement. The tapes were electrically connected in parallel with effective length of 0.4 m per element (16 elements connected in series) constituting a single-phase unit. The FCL performance was evaluated through over-current tests and its recovery characteristics under load current were analyzed using optimized value of the shunt protection. The projected limiting ratio achieved a factor higher than 4 during fault of 5 cycles without degradation. Construction details and further test results will be shown in the paper. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Precise mapping of the magnetic field in the CMS barrel yoke using cosmic rays

The CMS detector is designed around a large 4 T superconducting solenoid, enclosed in a 12 000-tonne steel return yoke. A detailed map of the magnetic field is required for the accurate simulation and reconstruction of physics events in the CMS detector, not only in the inner tracking region inside the solenoid but also in the large and complex structure of the steel yoke, which is instrumented with muon chambers. Using a large sample of cosmic muon events collected by CMS in 2008, the field in the steel of the barrel yoke has been determined with a precision of 3 to 8% depending on the location. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA.

Nucleation of superconductivity in a thin disk with a ring-like defect

We report on the influence of a circular defect on the vortex configuration in a mesoscopic superconducting sample. Effects associated with the pinning force of the circular defect on the configuration and on the vortex entry fields are studied for a very thin disk. We calculate the magnetization loop, vorticity, free energy and superconducting electrons for the disk in presence of an external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the disk plane. The magnetization curves are hysteretic, with paramagnetic response in part of the downward branch, also, in this part we found a vortex-anti-vortex state. © 2013 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Triangular arrangement of defects in a mesoscopic superconductor

By solving the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations, we investigated the influence of an internal triangular arrangement of point-like defects on the vortex configurations in a thin mesoscopic sample. The effect of the number of internal defects and their nature on the entrance position of the vortex is studied for a very thin circular sample. We found that the interplay between the vortex-vortex repulsion, the vortex-defect interaction and the interaction with the sample border leads to non-commensurate vortex configurations. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fault current limiter using transformer and modular device of YBCO coated conductor

In this work, we report on the evaluation of a superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL). It is consisted of a modular superconducting device combined with a short-circuited transformer with a primary copper winding connected in series to the power line and the secondary side short-circuited by the superconducting device. The basic idea is adding a magnetic component to contribute to the current limitation by the impedance reflected to the line after transition of the superconducting device. The evaluation tests were performed with a prospective current up to 2 kA, with the short-circuited transformer of 2.5 kVA, 220 V/660 V connected to a test facility of 100 kVA power capacity. The resistive SFCL using a modular superconducting device was tested without degradation for a prospective fault current of 1.8 kA, achieving the limiting factor 2.78; the voltage achieved 282 V corresponding to an electric field of 11 V/m. The test performed with the combined SFCL (xsuperconducting device + transformer) using series and toroidal transformers showed current limiting factor of 3.1 and 2 times, respectively. The test results of the combined SFCL with short-circuited transformer showed undesirable influence of the transformer impedance, resulting in reduction of the fault current level. © 2002-2011 IEEE.

Non-conventional vortex configurations in a mesoscopic flat disk

The influence of superficial defects on the vortex configurations of a thin superconducting disk is investigated within the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau formalism. The free energy, magnetization, vorticity, and the Cooper pair density are calculated for both metastable and stable vortex configurations and different number of defects on its surface in the presence of an external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the disk area. We show that the competition between the confinement geometry and the geometric position of the defects leads to non-conventional vortex configurations which are not compatible with the symmetry of the sample geometry.

Structural and electrical properties of LaNiO3 thin films grown on (100) and (001) oriented SrLaAlO4 substrates by chemical solution deposition method

LaNiO3 thin films were deposited on SrLaAlO4 (1 0 0) and SrLaAlO4 (0 0 1) single crystal substrates by a chemical solution deposition method and heat-treated in oxygen atmosphere at 700° C in tube oven. Structural, morphological, and electrical properties of the LaNiO 3 thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and electrical resistivity as temperature function (Hall measurements). The X-ray diffraction data indicated good crystallinity and a structural preferential orientation. The LaNiO3 thin films have a very flat surface and no droplet was found on their surfaces. Samples of LaNiO3 grown onto (1 0 0) and (0 0 1) oriented SrLaAlO4 single crystal substrates reveled average grain size by AFM approximately 15-30 nm and 20-35 nm, respectively. Transport characteristics observed were clearly dependent upon the substrate orientation which exhibited a metal-to-insulator transition. The underlying mechanism is a result of competition between the mobility edge and the Fermi energy through the occupation of electron states which in turn is controlled by the disorder level induced by different growth surfaces. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.

Study of the threshold line between macroscopic and bulk behaviors for homogeneous type II superconductors

In this work we solved the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations to simulate homogeneous superconducting samples with square geometry for several lateral sizes. As a result of such simulations we notice that in the Meissner state, when the vortices do not penetrate the superconductor, the response of small samples are not coincident with that expected for the bulk ones, i.e., 4. πM=. -. H. Thus, we focused our analyzes on the way which the M(. H) curves approximate from the characteristic curve of bulk superconductors. With such study, we built a diagram of the size of the sample as a function of the temperature which indicates a threshold line between macroscopic and bulk behaviors. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Properties of individual YBCO layers in a two-layered design for energy-efficient digital data cables

We are developing two-layered Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide (YBCO) thin film structures for energy efficient data links for superconducting electronics and present the results of their property measurements. High temperature superconductors (HTS) are advantageous for the implementation of energy-efficient cables interconnecting low temperature superconductor-based circuits and other cryogenic electronics circuits at higher temperature stages. The advantages of the HTS cables come from their low loss and low dispersion properties, allowing ballistic transfer of low power signals with very high bandwidth, low heat conduction and negligible inter-line crosstalk. The microstrip line cable geometry for typical materials is a two-layered film, in which the two superconducting layers are separated by an insulation layer with a minimized permittivity. We have made a proof of concept design of two YBCO films grown by pulsed laser deposition and then assembled into a sandwich with uniform insulating interlayer of tens of micrometers thick. We report on results obtained from such systems assembled in different ways. Structural and electromagnetic properties have been examined on individual films and on the corresponding sandwich composite. © 2013 IEEE.

Investigação comparativa das propriedades estruturais do diboreto de magnésio dopado com compostos de carbono

Pós-graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais - FC

Estudo das propriedades supercondutoras e da microestrutura do supercondutor Mg'B IND. 2' puro e dopado com compostos de carbono

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Caracterização de filmes finos de YBa2Cu3O7-x e La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 produzidos via síntese química

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Inomogeneidades estruturais em amostras nanoscópicas de supercondutores de alta temperatura crítica

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Mobilidade de oxigênio intersticial em SM'BA IND.2' C IND.U 'IND.3' 'O IND. 7-'delta' medida através de espectroscopia mecânica

Pós-graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais - FC

Otimização das condições de síntese de amostras cerâmicas do composto Y'Ba IND. 2''Cu IND. 3''O IND. 7'-δ através do Método Pechini

Pós-graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais - FC