Experiments to Produce Superconductive Bulks in Microgravity Environment

Abstract

Large grain bulk RE-Ba-Cu--0 (RE: rare earth elements) superconductors can be used for vari­ous applications such as magnetic bearing, load transport and field trapping magnet. The magnetic field generated by bulk RE-Ba-Cu-O is proportional to its radius, however, it is very difficult to grow a large grain bulk on the ground due to the contamination from the substrate or the crucible. Such a problem can be solved by growing large RE-Ba-Cu--0 in microgravity environment, in which the bulk can be supported by a seed crystal alone during the crystal growth. Such experiments will be conducted in the USERS (Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery system) project. In this paper, the experiment plan and the present status of the system development will be reported.