Research Symposium

BIO

Cesar Aguirre is a Mechanical Engineering student at Florida State University. He is a sophomore and was born in Oahu, Hawaii and raised in Okinawa, Japan. He has an interest in design via CAD, dynamics, and learning how things work!

Creating a Reel-To-Reel System for REBCO Test at 4.2K

Abstract

Superconductors are materials that can conduct electricity with zero electrical resistance upon being cooled below a certain, material-dependent critical temperature (Tc).

REBCO – rare earth barium copper oxide, is a high-temperature ‘Type II’ superconductor, having a relatively high Tc (~91K) and an ability to tolerate strong magnetic fields.

However, present-day REBCO tape cooled by liquid helium does not have a uniform flow of current throughout for reasons that are currently unknown, hampering performance.

The exact characteristics of the non-homogeneous current flow are also unknown.

A unique reel-to-reel magnetic probe is being designed to measure the critical current density (Jc) of each section of a given REBCO tape sample by moving the tape through a nanovoltmeter, which measures the Jc and uploads the data into a laboratory program.

Quantifying the differences in current flow through this experiment will help us further characterize REBCO samples.

Characterizing the samples would aid further research into fixing the tape’s non-homogeneous nature, allowing the tape to become more effective in each of its applications.

For instance, learning if current decreases steadily or if there are sharp drop offs in Jc will be important in REBCO’s use in creating stronger magnets, as sharp drop-offs cause loss of magnetism.

Studies also show that REBCO has enormous possible applications in high-field applications like magnetic fusion, a potential source of vast green, sustainable energy, further demonstrating the benefits of characterizing the material.

Keywords: MagLab, Superconductor, REBCO, ASC, YBCO