Current status of R&D for Y-based coated conductors and their applications

Abstract

Since the discovery, it has been expected that high-Tｃ superconductors will be used in various applications including those in LN2. The development of YBCO tapes has been delayed owing to difficulties in their processing compared with that of BSCCO tapes. However, as a result of national projects on YBCO tapes, the technology for fabricating YBCO tapes has been remarkably progressed in both U.S. and Japan. Consequently, longer tapes than 500m with reasonable high I ｃ values were realized. Owing to the progress in the R&D of YBCO tapes, the preliminary works on the development of applications using YBCO tapes were already started. In this paper, recent activities related to the development of YBCO tapes and the present status of R&D into their applications is reviewed.