Against the backdrop of the accelerating commercialization of controlled nuclear fusion globally, second-generation high-temperature superconducting tapes (REBCO), as a key material for "super magnets," have become a core part of nuclear fusion engineering due to performance breakthroughs.
The website of the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences reported on October 28 that recently, Professor Rong Lijian's team at the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, successfully overcame the key technical bottlenecks in the preparation of metal substrates for second-generation high-temperature superconducting tapes used in controlled nuclear fusion by using their independently developed purification technology. They achieved industrial-scale production of high-purity ton-level Hastelloy C276 metal substrates, marking an important progress in China's autonomous control of core materials in this field. This achievement means that the key core materials for the "artificial sun" have been made domestically and industrially, and the full research results are as follows.
The kilometer-scale substrate prepared by the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
With the rapid breakthroughs in global controlled nuclear fusion technology, the commercialization process has gradually accelerated, and controlled nuclear fusion has been listed as a key development area by the country. Second-generation high-temperature superconducting tapes (REBCO) are considered the core material for "super magnets" in controlled nuclear fusion, and their technological breakthroughs directly determine whether it is possible to create ultra-strong magnetic fields to confine plasma at tens of millions of degrees. China's preparation and application of second-generation high-temperature superconducting materials are among the international leaders, but the metal substrates used for high-temperature superconducting tapes have long relied on imports. In recent years, although domestic production has started, it uses imported cold-rolled coils for subsequent processing, which not only is expensive but also the supply time is difficult to guarantee. The metal substrate acts as a buffer layer and the base for the growth of the superconducting layer, similar to the foundation laid when building a house. The buffer layer and superconducting material need to be "grown" layer by layer on this substrate. It not only provides the necessary mechanical strength and deformation ability for the superconducting tape, but also forms the basis for the stable shaping of the entire superconducting structure.
Currently, the metal substrates for REBCO mainly use Hastelloy C276, with a thickness
The surface roughness of the substrate (AFM standard 50×50um) Ra=19nm
Recently, the C276 substrates batch-produced by the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have been verified at Shanghai Superconductor Technology Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Shangchuang Superconductor Technology Co., Ltd., and have successfully completed the large-scale production of nearly one kilometer of high-temperature superconducting tapes at Dongbu Superconductor Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. Dongbu Superconductor Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. has produced 845 meters of MF series superconducting tapes using kilometer-scale substrates. The average Ic under self-field at 77K is 594A, with STDEV < 9.8A. Under 4.2K, 10T vertical field, Ic reaches 1058.78A-4mm, N value 75.6, which is comparable to the critical current level of REBCO superconducting materials produced in bulk using imported substrates. The REBCO superconducting materials produced have been applied in related projects of Jiangxi Lianchuang Superconductor Technology Co., Ltd. This marks an important breakthrough in the domestic production of key materials for high-temperature superconducting tapes in China, providing important guarantees for the national production and application of second-generation high-temperature superconducting materials.
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7566065932041273907/
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