Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Practical scaling parameters for critical current anisotropy in commercial REBCO coated conductors for high field applications

Published inSuperconductor science and technology, vol. 39, 085021
First online date2026-08-03
Abstract

The next generation of high and ultra-high field magnets will increasingly rely on REBCO coated conductors in the form of tapes, tape stacks or cables. However, the intrinsically anisotropic nature of REBCO presents significant operational challenges, particularly regarding the orientation of the applied magnetic field. Consequently, the critical current (Ic) depends not only on temperature (T) and magnetic field amplitude (B), but also on the field orientation (θ) relative to the tape surface. Accurate characterization of the Ic(B,θ,T) surface is therefore essential. This study investigates three commercial superconducting tapes from leading manufacturers: Shanghai Superconductors Technology, SuperPower and Faraday Factory Japan/SuperOx. These tapes were fabricated with different rare-earth elements and distinct pinning centers. Measurements were performed at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and at Tohoku University within the High Field Laboratory for Superconducting Materials (HFLSM). Full-width 4 mm tapes were measured at UNIGE from 4.2 K to 40 K in applied magnetic fields up to 19 T with five distinct orientations. At HFLSM, tapes from the same spools were patterned with microbridges (30 μm x 1 mm) and measured from 5 K to 55 K in fields up to 24 T, with angular dependence of Ic measured over 135°. This extensive dataset was analysed using the Maximum Entropy Model accurately reproducing Ic(B,θ,T) profiles with a limited set of meaningful parameters. The model successfully captured both single dominant Ic peak and more complex angular dependences featuring secondary peaks. The fit components were systematically correlated with the underlaying microstructural features and pinning landscapes for each tape. Subsequently, practical and tape-specific scaling parameters for Ic(B,θ,T) were derived to describe the unique material formulation and pinning landscape of each tape. The proposed framework provides a physics-based description of the superconducting behaviour while explicitly aiming to serve as a practical tool for magnet design and modelling.

Research groups
Funding
  • Global Institute for Materials Research Tohoku [202305-CMKOV-0505]
  • Global Institute for Materials Research Tohoku [202312-HMKGE-0502]
  • State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation
Citation (ISO format)
BABOUCHE, Romain et al. Practical scaling parameters for critical current anisotropy in commercial REBCO coated conductors for high field applications. In: Superconductor science and technology, 2026, vol. 39, p. 085021. doi: 10.1088/1361-6668/ae940e
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Article (Published version)
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0953-2048
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Technical informations

Creation04/08/2026 00:32:41
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