SuperconductivityPub Date : 2024-07-18DOI: 10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100110
Kumud Singh , Janvin Itteera , Mahima , Vikas Tiwari , Himanshu Bisht , Sanjay Malhotra , R.R. Singh , Rajesh Jalan , Sanjay Howal , Rajesh Chimurkar , Sunil Kumar , S. Stoynev , M. Turenne , M. Yu , B. Hanna , J. Hayman , C. Boffo
{"title":"Electromagnetic design and performance of conduction cooled superconducting magnet for spoke resonator cryomodule for Proton Improvement Plan (PIP)-II","authors":"Kumud Singh , Janvin Itteera , Mahima , Vikas Tiwari , Himanshu Bisht , Sanjay Malhotra , R.R. Singh , Rajesh Jalan , Sanjay Howal , Rajesh Chimurkar , Sunil Kumar , S. Stoynev , M. Turenne , M. Yu , B. Hanna , J. Hayman , C. Boffo","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100110","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100110","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Proton Improvement Plan (PIP)-II project is part of Fermilab’s upgrade of its proton accelerator complex, to provide a powerful, high-intensity proton beam to the laboratory’s upcoming research program. The project includes an 800 MeV superconducting (SC) linear accelerator (linac), with five flavours of cavities and cryomodules. The medium energy section of the linac contains two types of superconducting Single Spoke Resonator (SSR) RF cavities (SSR1 and SSR2), which are interleaved with strong solenoid focusing lenses. A unified design of the solenoid has been developed, with one solenoid design satisfying both SSR1 and SSR2 requirements. The integral focusing strength requirement of 4.5 T<sup>2</sup>m with a full width half maximum (FWHM) of 180 mm indicates the peak field strength ∼ 6.8 T in the magnet aperture, necessitating a superconducting design within the limits of NbTi as magnet wire strand. These are complex combined units that include one focusing solenoid with bucking coils to minimize fringe fields and four corrector coils each, with independent current leads to produce dipole and quadrupole fields. To simplify the current lead design and reduce complexity, the project opted conduction cooling for these magnets, thus requiring a redesign compared to previous prototype bath cooled units. Existing designs for high energy accelerators adopt bath cooled design of the solenoid focusing lenses for medium energy cryomodules. The present design explores a unique and technically superior solution for the cryomodule operation by decoupling the magnet and cavity cooling to certain extent. Reliability in cryomodule operations shall be studied after integration of magnets in the Linac beamline. Here we discuss the design requirements, challenges, electromagnetic design, superconducting wire selection and the results from magnetic measurements of the first pre-series units.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"11 ","pages":"Article 100110"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000279/pdfft?md5=3f1c2ac3d4e64c36fa32de681de29e03&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000279-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141839735","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SuperconductivityPub Date : 2024-06-26DOI: 10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100101
Qianting Ran , Ze Jing , Lei Shen , Jun Zhou , Cong Liu , Zhiwei Zhang , Xingyi Zhang
{"title":"Suppression of flux avalanches in YBCO superconducting thin films by coating metal investigated using magneto-optical imaging","authors":"Qianting Ran , Ze Jing , Lei Shen , Jun Zhou , Cong Liu , Zhiwei Zhang , Xingyi Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100101","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Flux avalanches, prevalently existing in superconducting thin films, can cause catastrophic breakdowns of electromagnetic properties and even irreversible damage to superconducting materials. Metal coating is an effective way to suppress the flux avalanches in superconducting thin films. Nevertheless, it is difficult to reveal the suppression mechanisms due to the challenge of effectively separating the simultaneous eddy currents and heat exchange in the metal coating. In this work, the eddy currents and heat exchange in the Ag metal coating are separated by setting a thermal insulation layer, and its inhibiting effect on the flux avalanches of the YBCO superconducting thin films is elucidated. The results indicate that eddy currents play an important part in suppressing magnetic flux avalanches, and their effect strengthens with increasing Ag thickness. Meanwhile, employing the double-exposure method, the flux avalanche velocity of YBCO superconducting thin films was measured, revealing a significant decrease in the magnetic flux avalanche velocity due to suppression by eddy currents. Moreover, a theoretical model was established to investigate the influence of eddy currents on the motion of a single vortex, and the calculated results showed good agreement with the experiments. These findings provide a better understanding of the flux avalanches and their suppression in YBCO superconducting thin films.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"11 ","pages":"Article 100101"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000188/pdfft?md5=b062012277351a09b14b89621753db2a&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000188-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141595690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SuperconductivityPub Date : 2024-06-01DOI: 10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100099
Peiyao Qu , Huanli Liu , Xiangyu Zheng , Jiahong Yang , Liliang Ying , Jie Ren , Haihang You , Guangming Tang
{"title":"An energy-efficient 32-bit bit-parallel superconducting SFQ specialized processor","authors":"Peiyao Qu , Huanli Liu , Xiangyu Zheng , Jiahong Yang , Liliang Ying , Jie Ren , Haihang You , Guangming Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As the demand for energy efficiency rises, researchers are increasingly prioritizing the quest for energy-efficient chip design. Superconducting SFQ circuit technology has garnered attention due to its ultra-high speed and low power consumption characteristics. In this paper, we propose a layout method called Maximum Operating Frequency Constraint (MOFC) for SFQ circuit design. Using this method, we demonstrated a 32-bit bit-parallel string-matching processor fabricated based on SIMIT-Nb03P technology, which holds practical value. The MOFC method focuses on achieving high bit-width processor design within constrained area cost in SFQ circuits, contributing to less energy consumption. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first demonstrated instance of a superconducting SFQ chip achieving successful internal 32-bit data parallel processing. Our chip has been fabricated and tested, revealing not only its capability for 32-bit bit-parallel processing at a high speed of 12 GHz but also its achievement of an energy efficiency ratio of up to 251 GOPS/W.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100099"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000164/pdfft?md5=aa71c13957b87a6be9f561c349209d28&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000164-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141485617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SuperconductivityPub Date : 2024-06-01DOI: 10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100100
Yunwu Han , Xihua Zong , Wei Xie
{"title":"Cooling system for China’s 35 kV/2.2kA/1.2 km high-temperature superconducting cable achieves two-year successful operation","authors":"Yunwu Han , Xihua Zong , Wei Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100100","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In December 2021, a 1.2 km high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable, Xuhui HTS Cable Project, was completed and installed in Xuhui district, Shanghai, China. A cooling system with three refrigerators and two liquid nitrogen (LN2) pumps was developed for this km-class cable. Now, this cooling system has worked successfully for two years without faults. This is a great progress for km-class HTS power cable technique, which is validating the reliability and commercial value of HTS power transmission.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100100"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000176/pdfft?md5=81de7fb49873487b49e6c65a9bc789db&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000176-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141485618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SuperconductivityPub Date : 2024-04-30DOI: 10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100098
Shermane M. Benjamin
{"title":"Pressurization, intercalation, doping, and elements: An empirical study of superconductivity near perturbation onsets","authors":"Shermane M. Benjamin","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100098","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Superconductivity is a phenomenon arising from cooperative electron behavior. However, correlations among (1) the minimum tuning parameter required for emergence, (2) the superconducting transition temperature resulting from minimal tuning, and (3) the host’s physical/chemical properties still elude the scientific community. Recent empirical investigations, such as those revealing ideal gas-like correlations at the onset of superconductivity in intercalated superconductors, motivate this study. Our investigation reports similar findings in systems (<em>></em>170 compounds) exhibiting superconductivity through other perturbative means, such as single-element doping. In general, statistical measures, including distance correlation analyses (≠ linear regression fit) of thermodynamic variables, indicate the presence of empirical relationships near the superconducting onset of systematically tuned compounds. These relations involve unit cell volume (<em>V</em>), the number of valence electrons (<em>N</em>), and the superconducting transition temperature (<em>T<sub>c</sub></em>). Note: The author’s primary aim is not to validate or challenge BCS theory; it is instead to focus on leveraging methodology led by available data to enhance the exploration and development of innovative and cost-effective superconductors.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100098"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000152/pdfft?md5=0438704b7762dcde9406e6b3c8539992&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000152-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140951792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SuperconductivityPub Date : 2024-04-19DOI: 10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100096
Yuting Jiang , Xingyu Zhang , Hui Zhou , Xiaofu Zhang , Hao Li , Lixing You
{"title":"Superconducting nanostrip single photon detectors fabricated of aluminum thin-films","authors":"Yuting Jiang , Xingyu Zhang , Hui Zhou , Xiaofu Zhang , Hao Li , Lixing You","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100096","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100096","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We systematically investigated the detection performance of Al nanostrips for single photons at various wavelengths. The Al films were deposited using magnetron sputtering, and the sophisticated nanostructures and morphology of the deposited films were revealed through high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The fabricated Al meander nanostrips, with a thickness of 4.2 nm and a width of 178 nm, exhibited a superconducting transition temperature of 2.4 K and a critical current of approximately 5 μA at 0.85 K. While the Al nanostrips demonstrated a saturated internal quantum efficiency for 405-nm photons, the internal detection efficiency exhibited an exponential dependence on bias current without any saturation tendency for 1550-nm photons. This behavior can be attributed to the relatively large diffusion coefficient and coherence length of the Al films. By further narrowing the nanostrip width, the Al-SNSPDs remain capable of effectively detecting single telecom photons to facilitate practical applications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100096"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000139/pdfft?md5=cc4de4e35457f3c41620e11c070c4e76&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000139-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140777496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Numerical modelling of electromechanical coupling behaviors in HTS coil with implementation of H formulation in FE software","authors":"Huadong Yong , Dong Wei , Yunkai Tang , Donghui Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100097","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100097","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>(Re)Ba<sub>2</sub>Cu<sub>3</sub>O<sub>7-x</sub> (REBCO) coated conductors (CCs) have attracted considerable concern because of their outstanding current carrying capacity in magnetic fields of high strengths. A huge electromagnetic force is generated in the superconducting coil when conducting large currents in strong magnetic field. Thus, management of stress and strain has become a key technical challenge for the stability and safety of superconducting coil during operation. To accurately predict the electro-magnetic and mechanical characteristics of superconducting coil in strong magnetic field, an electromechanical model on the basis of the H-formulation and arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method is proposed here with FE software. To verify the proposed model, the simulation outcomes of the coil during magnetization are compared with the experimental outcomes. The coupling effect of magnet at high field strengths is dependent on the position of the coil. To reduce the screening current effect, the overshoot method with plateau is found superior to the traditional overshoot method, and an increase in the stabilization time can decrease the maximum value of stress. Finally, the electromechanical behaviors of single winding coil and two-tapes co-winding coil are compared.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100097"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000140/pdfft?md5=f0be644092e97573b6237099e2f8dee3&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000140-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140783356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SuperconductivityPub Date : 2024-04-13DOI: 10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100095
Yue Wu , Shuangrong You , Jin Fang , Rodney A. Badcock , Nicholas J. Long , Zhenan Jiang
{"title":"AC loss study on a 3-phase HTS 1 MVA transformer coupled with a three-limb iron core","authors":"Yue Wu , Shuangrong You , Jin Fang , Rodney A. Badcock , Nicholas J. Long , Zhenan Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100095","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100095","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>High-temperature superconducting (HTS) technology provides an alternative approach to achieve compact transformers. Addressing AC loss in the HTS winding is crucial for HTS transformer applications. Most numerical AC loss studies on HTS transformers have neglected the influence of iron cores. This work carries out an AC loss study to explore the impact of an iron core on the HTS windings in a 3-phase HTS 1 MVA transformer coupled with it. AC loss simulations for the transformer winding both with and without the iron core are conducted by adopting the three-dimensional (3D) <em>T</em>-<em>A</em> homogenization method. When the iron core is incorporated, the saturation magnetic fields of iron materials, flux diverters (FDs) with different geometries, and variations in turn spacings in the LV winding composed of Roebel cables are considered to investigate their influence on the AC loss of the transformer winding. The inclusion of the iron core leads to a 1.2% increase in AC loss for the transformer winding while simulating at the rated current. We attribute this slight difference to the non-inductive winding structure of the transformer winding, where a strong magnetic field generated in the space between the LV and HV windings effectively shields the influence of the iron core.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100095"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000127/pdfft?md5=40e0c580771e6c6ccb0192cb0e47602f&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000127-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140763232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SuperconductivityPub Date : 2024-03-01DOI: 10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100087
Alok K. Jha , Kaname Matsumoto , Tomoya Horide , Shrikant Saini , Ataru Ichinose , Paolo Mele , Yutaka Yoshida , Satoshi Awaji
{"title":"Evaluation of temperature dependent vortex pinning properties in strongly pinned YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films with Y2BaCuO5 nanoinclusions","authors":"Alok K. Jha , Kaname Matsumoto , Tomoya Horide , Shrikant Saini , Ataru Ichinose , Paolo Mele , Yutaka Yoshida , Satoshi Awaji","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100087","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100087","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The pinning of quantized magnetic vortices in superconducting YBa<sub>2</sub>Cu<sub>3</sub>O<sub>7- δ</sub>(YBCO or Y123) thin films with Y<sub>2</sub>BaCuO<sub>5</sub> (Y211) nanoinclusions have been investigated over wide temperature range (4.2–77 K). The concentration of Y211 nanoinclusions has been systematically varied inside YBCO thin films prepared by laser ablation technique using surface modified target approach. Large pinning force density values (<em>F<sub>p</sub></em> ∼ 0.5 TNm<sup>−3</sup> at 4.2 K, 9 T) have been observed for the YBCO film with moderate concentration of Y211 nanoinclusions (3.6 area % on ablation target). In addition, uniform enhancement in critical current density (<em>J<sub>c</sub></em>) was observed in the angular dependent <em>J<sub>c</sub></em> measurement of YBCO+Y211 nanocomposite films. Y211 nanoinclusions have been found to be very efficient in pinning the quantized vortices thereby enhancing the in-field <em>J<sub>c</sub></em> values over a wide range of temperature. Increasing the concentration of Y211 secondary phase into Y123 film matrix results into agglomeration of Y211 phase and observed as increased Y211 nanoparticle size. These larger secondary phase nanoparticles are not as efficient pinning centers at lower temperatures as they are at higher temperatures due to substantial reduction of the coherence length at lower temperatures. Investigation of the temperature dependence of <em>J<sub>c</sub></em> for YBCO+Y211 nanocomposite films has been conducted and possible vortex pinning mechanism in these nanocomposite films has been discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100087"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000048/pdfft?md5=c63fad2986ec80f2d03dce6ca73ec113&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000048-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139966173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SuperconductivityPub Date : 2024-02-19DOI: 10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100086
J.V.J. Congreve, Y. Shi, A.R. Dennis, H. Druiff, N.C. Tutt, D.A. Cardwell, J.H. Durrell
{"title":"A detailed comparison of the composition of (RE)-Ba-Cu-O-Ag bulk superconductors","authors":"J.V.J. Congreve, Y. Shi, A.R. Dennis, H. Druiff, N.C. Tutt, D.A. Cardwell, J.H. Durrell","doi":"10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100086","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supcon.2024.100086","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The homogeneity of the microstructure and composition are critical in determining the properties of rare earth-barium-cuprate, single grain bulk superconductors [(RE)BCO]. The magnitude of the trapped magnetic field achieveable in these technologically important materials, in particular, is influenced heavily by the size and distribution of (RE)<sub>2</sub>BaCuO<sub>x</sub> (RE-211) flux pinning inclusions in the bulk microstructure, whereas the size and distribution of silver agglomerates present within the bulk superconducting matrix correlate directly with improved mechanical properties. With careful engineering, these materials have significant potential for application in range of devices related to energy storage, medicine, electro-magnetic machinery and microelectronic technology. Fabrication of (RE)BCO bulk superconductors typically involves heating a powder compact above its peritectic decomposition temperature followed by slow cooling to facilitate the growth of a single grain. Each (RE)BCO composition has a different peritectic temperature and growth rate, which, therefore, necessitates different requirements in the heating profile. The fabrication temperature and growth rate, for example, may have an effect on the RE-211 and silver distribution, which may, in turn, affect the superconducting properties of the resulting single grain.</p><p>In this work we compare the distributions of silver and RE-211 in the single grain microstructures of YBCO-Ag, GdBCO-Ag, EuBCO-Ag and SmBCO-Ag bulk superconductors using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. We observe that the distributions are very similar along both the <em>a/b</em>-axis and <em>c</em>-axis of these materials. This suggests that factors other than the maximum temperature used to achieve peritectic decomposition and the rate of single grain growth are particularly influential in determining the properties of the as-processed samples in the top seeded melt growth process. This observation demonstrates there is freedom to use (RE) materials interchangeably between different applications as required, for example, for functional or economic reasons.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101185,"journal":{"name":"Superconductivity","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100086"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772830724000036/pdfft?md5=311e47672fc92a9785ac758263697954&pid=1-s2.0-S2772830724000036-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139976111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}