Murakami, Masato MM, Cardwell, David DC, Salama, Kamel KS, Krabbes, Gernot GK, Habisreuther, Tobias TH, and Gawalek, Wolfgang WG
Superconducting melt-textured bulk (RE)BCO large grain materials are one of the most promising materials for power applications of high temperature superconductivity at the liquid nitrogen temperature range. Industrial applications are expected in high-speed low-loss magnetic bearings for flywheel energy storage devices, high-dynamic high-torque electric reluctance motors, and MAGLEV transportation systems. The material has high magnetic field trapping capability and therefore a new class of high-field superconducting permanent magnets will soon appear. However, there is still the need to improve the magnetic and mechanical material properties, as well as to increase the single domain size.This special issue contains papers concerning these topics presented at the International Workshop on the Processing and Applications of Superconducting (RE)BCO Large Grain Materials. The workshop was held on the 30 June-2 July 2003 in Jena, Germany, and was organized by the Institut fuer Physikalische Hochtechnologie, Jena. It was the fourth in the series of PASREG workshops after Cambridge, UK (1997), Morioka, Japan (1999), and Seattle, USA (2001). Sixty two contributions were presented at the workshop, 38 oral presentations and 24 poster presentations. This special issue contains 42 papers.The editors are grateful for the support of many colleagues who reviewed the manuscripts to guarantee their high technical quality. The editors also wish to thank Doris Litzkendorf and Tobias Habisreuther from Institut fuer Physikalische Hochtechnologie, Jena, for their assistance with the organization and handling of the manuscripts. Many thanks to the workshop co-chairman Gernot Krabbes from Leibniz-Institut fuer Festkoerper und Werkstoffforschung, Dresden, for hosting the workshop participants in Dresden. Finally, all attendees wish to acknowledge the efforts of Wolfgang Gawalek, Tobias Habisreuther, Doris Litzkendorf and the Team of Department Magnetics from the Institut fuer Physikalische Hochtechnologie, Jena, for being generous hosts during the workshop.The International PASREG Board selected the following distinguished researchers as recipients of the 2003 PASREG Award for Excellence to acknowledge their contribution to the development of bulk high-temperature superconductors: Masato Murakami, ISTEC Tokyo; Günter Fuchs, IFW Dresden; Uichiro Mitzutani, Nagoya University; Bernhard Oswald, OSWALD Electric Motors Co. Miltenberg; Anna E Carillo, Teresa Puig and Xavier Obradors, ICMAB Barcelona.