 UW-Madison MRSEC |
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on Nanostructured Interfaces |
IRG On High Temperature SuperconductorsThe original goal of the Grain Boundaries, Electronic Structure, and Percolation in High Critical Temperature Superconductors group was to understand the "real" grain boundaries of high-Tc copper oxide. In 2001 we added study of the just discovered MgB2 superconductor, finding that its grain boundaries are very different from those of high Tc compounds. As in the high-Tc compounds though, the nanostructure of the compound is decisive for the superconducting properties. The IRG combines sample design and fabrication, film growth, superconducting-properties characterization, nanoscale structure and electronic structure determination, methods to modify grain boundary properties, and theoretical modeling that takes full account of the complex materials science of these superconductors and provides insights into their behavior. Close collaborations with American Superconductor Corp., the Air Force Research Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory on high Tc materials are having a decisive impact on the production of the new generation of conductors that currently are proposed for development in widespread applications of high-current and high-field high-Tc superconductor technology. Our recent efforts on the characterization and processing of magnesium diboride with groups at Argonne, U. of Genoa (Italy), Imperial College (UK), Iowa State, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (LANL) and Princeton provide a striking example of rapid, high-impact collaborations which have uncovered exciting prospects for this new superconductor. |
