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Device Materials Group

 

Judith Driscoll

The group has worked on copper oxide superconductors since their discovery in 1986. We have pioneered techniques such as nanopinning in YBCO and low pO2 liquid assisted processing methods, which have now been taken up by industry. It is exciting times for these materials, as nearly 30 years after their discovery, applications (e.g. fault current limiters and high field magnets) are now emerging. Professor Driscoll is now working with many industries in Europe, US and Asia to further develop these materials. The work requires precision materials nanoengineering and novel processing.

a) Cross sectional TEM of an YBCO superconductor thin film with nanocolumns of pinning addition (Nb+Ta double perovskite) embedded within it. The nanocolumns act as very effective magnetic flux pinning centres.  b) Angular critical current data for nanopinned films showing the strong influence of increasing growth rate (left to right) on current carrying properties.  Remarkably for some pinning additives, assembly of nanoparticles into columns still occurs at high growth rate, giving strong pinning in both the out-of-plane direction on top of random pinning in all directions.

APL Mat. 2, 086103 (2014) DOI: 10.1063/1.4893339

J. Appl. Phys. 116, 033915 (2014) DOI: 10.1063/1.4890459

 

Part of research conducted in the Driscoll Group