HTS Wire Architecture

The graphic below highlights the industry’s two basic wire architectures. Each type of advanced wire achieves high power density with minimal electrical resistance, but differs in the superconductor materials that make it up; how it is manufactured; and, in some instances, its end-use applications.

On the left is a close-up of the internal structure of a multi-filamentary composite, or first generation (1G), HTS wire. This wire produced by AMSC continues to be available and has been sold to customers in 20 countries around the globe making it the industry workhorse for applications development and commercial product manufacture.  The graphic on the right shows the basic architecture for AMSC's second generation (2G) YBCO superconductor wire, which the company has branded as 344 superconductors.

AMSC’s 344 Superconductors were introduced to the market in 2005.  The company’s pre-pilot production line began operating in September 2005 and produced approximately 10,000 meters of 344 Superconductors for customers in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007. AMSC manufacturing line with a gross production capacity of approximately 720,000 meters is in operation.

AMSC's 2G HTS wire manufacturing technology is based on long, 4-cm wide strips of superconductor material that are produced in a high-speed, continuous reel-to-reel deposition process -- a process that is similar to the low-cost production of motion picture film in which celluloid strips are coated with a liquid emulsion -- and subsequently slit and laminated into eight, industry-standard 0.44-cm-wide tape-shaped wires. 

The wires are laminated on both sides with copper, stainless-steel, or brass metals to provide strength, durability and certain electrical characteristics needed in applications. These new three-ply, 4.4 mm wide second generation HTS wires are called 344 superconductors.

AMSC expects to continue to increase the electrical performance of its 2G wire to levels that exceed the performance of it first generation HTS wire. AMSC also expects to scale up the 4-cm technology to 1,000 meter lengths within the next two years. The company then plans is to migrate to 10-cm technology to further reduce manufacturing costs.