Superconducting YBCO Foams as Trapped Field Magnets

Abstract

Superconducting foams of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_y$ (YBCO) are proposed as trapped field magnets or supermagnets. The foams with an open-porous structure are light-weight, mechanically strong and can be prepared in large sample sizes. The trapped field distributions were measured using a scanning Hall probe on various sides of an YBCO foam sample after field-cooling in a magnetic field of 0.5 T produced by a square Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet. The maximum trapped field (TF) measured is about 400 G (77 K) at the bottom of the sample. Several details of the TF distribution, the current flow and possible applicatons of such superconducting foam samples in space applications, e.g., as active elements in flux-pinning docking interfaces (FPDI) or as portable strong magnets to collect debris in space, are outlined.

Flux Pinning Docking Interfaces in Satellites Using Superconducting Foams as Trapped Field Magnets

“…The TF mappings of the bulk samples (size 2 cm diameter, 1 cm height (IG-YBCO) and 5 × 2 × 2 cm 3 (YBCO foam)) were carried out using a homemade setup with a scanning Hall probe operating at 77 K and a distance of 1.5-2 mm to the sample surface [22], [23].…”

Highly Porous Superconductors: Synthesis, Research, and Prospects

“…The trajectories of currents in a PS are more ramified and entangled than in dense bulk superconductors, and the current circulation pattern is more complicated [26][27][28]. PSs are internally heterogeneous at different scales.…”

“…Does high porosity affect the magnetic and electrical transport properties of superconductors? The features of magnetic flux pinning have been studied in YBCO foams [28,39,99,[106][107][108][109][110][111], Bi2212 fabrics [87,93,109,[112][113][114][115], and porous polycrystals of Bi2223 [64, 116-120] and MgB 2 [67]. For YBCO fabrics, porous polycrystalline YBCO, and LSCO fabrics, the results of magnetic measurements have not been presented in published articles.…”

“…Measurements of the field trapped in YBCO foam demonstrate the presence of two current subsystems. Figure 3a shows the distribution of the trapped field B(x, y) over a ≈ 50 × 20 × 20 mm foam sample upon cooling in a magnetic field of 0.5 T [28]. The presented distribution has a main peak and several small peaks.…”

Successful production of solution blow spun YBCO+Ag complex ceramics

“…Some of these issues, however, can be solved by producing materials following facile and low-cost routes and aiming for high values of critical current density J c and its homogeneous distribution along the length of the materials. Additionally, high porous superconductors, such as those produced by solution-blow spinning (SBS) [5,6], electrospinning [7,8], and in foam-like structures [9,10], could be used to increase cooling efficiency due to their increased surface areas.…”