An Effective Approach for the Development of Reliable YBCO Bulk Cryomagnets with High Trapped Field Performances

• Published in: Advanced functional materials Vol. 24; no. 25; pp. 3996 - 4004
• Main Authors: Kenfaui, Driss, Sibeud, Pierre-Frédéric, Louradour, Eric, Chaud, Xavier, Noudem, Jacques G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-07-2014; Wiley
• Subjects: Annealing; ANNEALING PROCESSES; COPPER OXIDE; cryomagnets; current loops; Deltas; Density; FRACTURE TOUGHNESS; Insertion; MAGNETS; Microstructure; MICROSTRUCTURES; Physics; Physics archives; progressive oxygenation; STRESS; Stresses; SUPERCONDUCTORS; thermal exchange; trapped fields; YBCO thin-wall single-domain; YTTRIUM OXIDE
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201304083

Widespread use of YBa2Cu3O7‐δ (Y123) bulk superconductors as source of strong magnetic fields requires development of high‐performance materials sufficiently reliable with improved thermal transfer ability. An effective approach based primarily on the growth of bulk Y123 single domains comprising a holes‐network to diminish the oxygen diffusion paths is reported here, as well as their progressive annealing at high temperature under oxygen pressure to reduce undue stresses and processing time. Finely, it aims to stimulate the thermal exchange inside the superconductor and compensate for induced magnetic stresses during the field‐trapping process. The approach brings considerable time and energy savings, and turns out to knock down barriers having stymied hitherto the use of Y123 bulk superconductors for engineering applications. Indeed, it enables the achievement of a pore‐free and crack‐free microstructure yielding marked fracture toughness and promoting large size persistent current loops, thereby boosting the trapped field performances. The fostering of the internal thermal exchange leads the maximum trapped field Bmax to shift to higher temperatures by up to 14 K. A value Bmax of 6.34 T is attained at 17 K on ≈16 mm‐diameter reinforced pellet (disk area s = 1.99 cm2), resulting in an outstanding field density Bmax/s=3.19 Tcm−2.
High‐performance YBa2Cu3O7‐δbulk superconductors with improved reliability and thermal transfer ability are fabricated in short time. The approach taken here is based on the insertion of a metal wires network into the holes of YBa2Cu3O7‐δ drilled single grains progressively annealed at high temperature under oxygen pressure. The achieved microstructure is pore‐free and crack‐free, and the thermal exchange markedly fostered inside the superconductor.