Second Generation Wire Development at AMSC

TLDR

AMSC’s 2G HTS wire, Amperium, has been used by many customers for early commercial HTS applications, yet higher critical current, field performance, and lower cost are needed for large‑scale commercial and military use. The study aims to increase critical current and develop nonmagnetic substrates for Amperium wire as production ramps up. R&D produced nonmagnetic substrates in test lengths and integrated them into Amperium cable wire, while the single‑coat 1.2 µm YBCO film process was moved to production‑scale equipment. AMSC’s 2G HTS wire manufacturing technology, based on RABiTS and MOD, now produces Amperium wires with critical currents up to 500 A/cm‑w at 77 K in production length.

Abstract

AMSC has established a Second Generation (2G) High-Temperature Superconductor (HTS) wire manufacturing technology based on the Rolling Assisted Biaxially Textured Substrate and Metal Organic Deposition processes. AMSC's 2G wire (Amperium) has been used by a wide range of customers for development and testing of initial commercial HTS-based applications. Although the Amperium wire properties and quantities satisfy the requirements for these initial projects, improvements in critical current, field performance, and cost are beneficial for large-scale commercial and military applications. As Amperium wire manufacturing continues to ramp up, AMSC's R&D program has focused on increasing critical current, and the development of nonmagnetic substrates. The R&D process developed for a single-coat, 1.2 μm YBCO film has been transferred to production-scale equipment, resulting in the first Amperium wires with critical currents reaching 500 A/cm-w (77 K, self-field) in production length. A nonmagnetic substrate, which minimizes ferromagnetic substrate losses in ac cable applications, has been produced in R&D lengths and demonstrated in an Amperium cable wire.