Speaker
Description
Rare-earth-based RE1Ba2Cu3O7-d (REBCO) high-temperature superconducting wires are promising materials for liquid-helium-free superconducting devices such as magnets and power cables, owing to their superior in-field current-carrying capability at elevated temperatures. In this context, superconducting devices operating at 20 K are closely linked to liquid hydrogen technologies: cooling schemes under consideration include heat exchange between supercritical helium and liquid hydrogen, as well as the direct use of liquid hydrogen as a coolant. This talk presents recent progress in REBCO wire technologies under the Moonshot Research and Development Program (Goal 10), "Fundamental Superconducting Technologies to Realize Various Innovative Fusion Reactor Concepts" (JPMJMS24A2), which aims to realize compact, high-field fusion reactors through liquid-helium-free, high-field magnet systems. Toward this goal, as one of the three research pillars (wire development, coil and magnet technologies, and reactor system technologies), the program is developing mass-production and characterization technologies for REBCO wires optimized for the 20 K, high-field regime. Key topics include a data-driven approach to optimizing mass-production pulsed-laser-deposition systems through the coupling of high-throughput characterization and machine learning; a methodology for predicting wire performance at 20 K under high magnetic fields; the evaluation of spatial uniformity in long-length wires; and a solder-free ultrasonic welding process for reliable low-resistance joints. The latest results and future perspectives of these REBCO wire technologies will be highlighted.
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by Moonshot R&D Program Grant Number JPMJMS24A2 and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP24H00320.