Progress in research and development on long length coated conductors in Fujikura

This paper describes a process for the fabrication of coated conductor (CC) wires, which is developed by Fujikura, and discusses their properties. These wires are composed of a buffer layer, which is formed by the ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) technique, and a superconducting layer, which is formed by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) process. In order to increase the I c × L which means the product of critical current ( I c ) and the length ( L ) of the CC wires the I c value and I c distribution along the length of CC wires have been improved by using a new PLD pilot plant. The I c value increases approximately linearly with the thickness of the superconducting layer, and it continues to increase up to a thickness of approximately 4 μm or 5 μm. The I c × L value of our fabricated CC wire is 176,023 Am. The I c value of a short sample is 972 A/cm. The process rate of IBAD is enhanced up to 100 m/h and that of PLD is enhanced up to 20 m/h. A 40-m long CC tape, which has an average I c of 300 A, is fabricated by the improved IBAD and PLD techniques.