Operation of hybrid current limiter based on high-Tc superconducting thin film

Abstract

A high-Tc superconducting (HTSC) thin film with an inductive shunt was investigated as the model of a hybrid current limiter based on the superconducting-normal state transition. In addition to features previously observed in operation of other current limiters, sharp peaks of rather high frequency were found to appear on the background of a basic low-frequency voltage signal. This is attributed to self-oscillations of temperature and current in the superconductor. The influence of the frequency and magnitude of the circuit current on the character of self-oscillations was experimentally investigated. Qualitative analysis of the conditions for appearance of the self-oscillations under dc and ac conditions was carried out.