METHOD OF PRODUCING CERAMIC-TYPE SUPERCONDUCTIVE WIRE

Abstract: In order to obtain a ceramic-type superconductive wire, a bulky ceramic-type superconductor or a precursor thereof that is pretreated such that the crystalline structure is oriented is charged into a metallic pipe, subjected to the working for decreasing the diameter so as to be elongated, and is heat-treated. In the thus obtained superconductive wire, the bulk consisting of the superconductor or the precursor thereof maintains the crystalline orientation. Namely, there is obtained a superconductive wire having a high critical current density. In order to further increase the critical current density, it is desirable to repeat the step for decreasing the diameter and the step of heat treatment alternatingly plural times.

Description: The present invention relates to a method of producing a superconducting wire which is provided with superconductivity by a ceramics system superconductive material, and more particularly, it relates to a method of producing a superconducting wire which is used for manufacturing a superconducting coil, a superconducting power cable or the like, for example. Background Art Under a superconducting phenomenon, a material exhibits complete demagnetization such that it develops no electric potential difference; i.e., its electrical resistance is reduced to zero although a finite stationary current flows in its interior. Accordingly, various applications of a superconductor have been proposed with respect to a transmission medium, an element or a device having absolutely no power loss. Namely, a lot of fields of utilization, such as the electric power field of MHD power generation, power transmission, power storage and the like; the power field of a magnetic levitation train, an electromagnetic thruster equipment, and the like; and, further, supersensitive sensors for magnetic fields, microwaves and radioactive rays employed in the field of measurement of NMR, a π-meson remedy apparatus, an experimentation apparatus for high energy physic and the like, can be listed as fields of applications of a superconductive material. Also in the field of electronics, it is expected as a technique which can implement a very high speed element of lower electric power consumption represented by a Josephson device. On the other hand, as a superconductive oxide having a critical temperature Tc which is extremely higher than those of conventional metal system superconductive materials was discovered by Bednorz and Muller etc. in 1986, a possibility for high temperature superconduction has been greatly developed (Z. Phys. B64, 1986, September, pp. 189 - 193). A composite oxide system superconductive material discovered by Bednorz and Müller etc. has composition of [La, Ba] 2 CuO 4 or [La, Sr] 2 CuO 4 , and is regarded as having a K 2 NiF 4 type crystal structure. While these materials are similar in crystal structure to generally known perovskite type composite oxide superconductive materials, their Tc, which are 30 to 50 K, are extremely high as compared with the conventional superconductive materials. As to the generally known composite oxide system superconductive materials, a Ba-Pb-Bi system composite oxide disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 3,932,315, and a Ba-Bi system composite oxide disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open Gazette No. 60-173885 may be listed. However, Tc of these composite oxides are not more than 10 K, and it has been indispensable to employ liquid helium (boiling point: 4.2 K) for utilizing the same as superconductive materials. The aforementioned [La, Ba] 2 CuO 4 and the like, for example, include oxides of group IIa elements and group IIIa elements, and sintered bodies containing such oxides, which are regarded as having crystal structures similar to perovskite type oxides and may be called pseudo-perovskite type structures, can be divided broadly into a K 2 NiF 4 type oxide such as [La, Ba] 2 CuO 4 or [La, Sr] 2 CuO 4 etc., an orthorhombic type oxide of a Ba 2 YCu 3 O system, and an oxide containing Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu. These materials exhibit superconducting phenomenons at Tc which are extremely high as compared with the aforementioned generally known superconductive materials, and hence liquid hydrogen (boiling point: 20.4 K), liquid neon (boiling point: 27.3 K) or liquid nitrogen (boiling point: 77.3 K) can be used as a cooling medium. Accordingly, expected are applications of these recently discovered composite oxide system superconductive materials having perovskite structures to transmission media for power or electric signals. In general, products of oxides have been mainly produced by powder sintering, in which the oxides are molded into desired configurations by performing sintering after press molding or HIP molding etc. Also with respect to the aforementioned new superconductive oxides, therefore, merely bulk type sintered bodies are produced by a powder sintering method under existing circumstances, and substantially no attempts have been made in order to apply these oxides to practical electric transmission media, particularly as linear products. To this end, the applicant has proposed a method of producing a superconducting elongated body comprising the steps of charging ceramics raw material powder composed of a composite oxide having a superconducting property in a metallic pipe, carrying out plastic deformation working for reducing the sectional area of the aforementioned metallic pipe in the state charged with the ceramic raw material powder, and heat treating the aforementioned metallic pipe after the plastic deformation, thereby sintering the aforementioned ceramic raw material powder charged in the aforementioned metallic pipe in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-025108 filed on February 5, 1988 and entitled "Method of Producing Composite Oxide Ceramics System Superconducting Wire" which corresponds to EP-A-0 281 444. Although this method is a satisfactory method itself, skill is required for charging the raw material in the metallic pipe with sufficiently large bulk density since the raw material is charged in the metallic pipe in the form of powder, and hence it has been difficult to improve critical current density Jc if the state of charging is inferior. According to the aforementioned method, further, the ceramic raw material powder is sintered in the metallic pipe, while it is difficult to control the crystal structure of a target superconductive material in this stage, and it is also difficult to thereafter provide appropriate orientation to the crystal texture of the superconductive material existing in the metallic pipe. Also in such meaning, therefore, it has been impossible to expect high Jc for a superconductive material obtained by the aforementioned method using sintering. A superconducting wire corresponding to the preamble of claim 1 is disclosed in "Fabrication of High Tc Superconducting Tape by Solid Reaction Method" by H. Mukai et al, Proceedings of Int. Symposium on New Developments in Applied Superconductivity, 1988, Osaka, Japan. In a method of charging powder in a similar metallic pipe and working the same into a wire, further, there is means for making orientation by stress through pressing or rolling, while it has been difficult to improve Jc in a thick film state if tape thickness is large, since the effect of the stress merely ranges over a limited thickness. This object is solved by a method of claim 1. EP 0 281 444 discloses a state of the art which is cited in the preamble of claim 1. JP 63-285812 A discloses a process to produce anoxide superconducting wire which uses as starking material a sintered body or a single crystal, which is covered by a metal, drawn into a wire and heat treated. EP 0 295 023 discloses a method of facricating a superconductive wire by preparing a solid body of a superconductive compound which may be highly textured, and covering it with a metal. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing a superconducting wire rod having high critical current density Jc, which is provided with superconductivity by a ceramics system superconductive material. The bulk type ceramics charged in the metallic pipe may not have a superconducting property but may have a semiconducting property, for example, at the time of charging. The bulk type ceramics may be provided with a superconducting property through later heat treatment, and the expression "superconductor or its precursor" is used for this reason. A bulk type ceramics system superconductor or its precursor having orientativity is produced by a method including a melting and solidifying step, which included a floating zone melting method. The metallic pipe is preferably formed of silver or a silver alloy. When the silver alloy is employed, further, this is preferably an Ag - 3 to 30 wt.% Pd alloy. The material for forming the employed ceramics system superconductor or its precursor is prepared from a Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system oxide or a Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system oxide. According to the present invention, a bulk type ceramics system superconductor or its precursor already having orientation in its crystal texture is employed, to be charged in a metallic pipe and reduced in size, thereby being elongated. Therefore, the superconductor or its precursor provided in the metallic pipe maintains the state of having orientativity in its crystal structure to some extent also when the same is elongated. Heat treatment after the diameter reduction working is carried out in order to combine crystal grains again, junction between which has been rendered insufficient by the diameter reduction working, and the total orientation is not damaged throughout the steps included in the overall method according to the present invention. The optimum temperature for the heat treatment is varied with the target superconductor as well as the time, the atmosphere and the cooling rate of the heat treatment, while the treatment is preferably carried out at a temperature of at least 800°C and not more than the melting point, in order to facilitate bonding and cause no deterioration in orientativity. Thus, according to the present invention, a superconducting wire can be obtained in a state not damaging crystal orientation of the initially prepared bulk type ceramics system superconductor or its precursor, whereby it is possible to obtain a superconducting wire having high critical current density Jc. The longitudinal direction of the bulk type ceramics system superconductor or its precursor having orientativity is preferably oriented perpendicularly to the c-axes of the crystals. This is because a current most easily flows in the direction perpendicular to the c-axes. Incidentally, it may be impossible to obtain a superconducting wire which allows considerably high critical current density merely through a single diameter reduction working step and a single heat treatment step. This is because crystal grains again combined by the heat treatment do not conform with the longitudinal direction of the wire in a strict sense, but tend to turn random directions to some extent. Therefore, according to the invention the directions of the crystal grains to the longitudinal direction of the wire are approached by alternately repeating the diameter reduction working and the heat treatment a plurality of times. The frequency of such repetition is preferably up to five times at the most, since no effect can be attained if the frequency is too much. The bulk type ceramics system superconductor or its precursor having orientation in its crystal structure is prepared by a unidirectional solidifying method including a floating zone melting method while particularly a bulk obtained by the unidirectional solidifying method is dense and hardly causes voids through subsequent diameter reduction working. If a pipe of silver or a silver alloy is employed as the metallic pipe, it hardly reacts with a material forming the ceramics system superconductor or its precursor. The silver or silver alloy pipe can also serve as a stabilizer after the same is worked into a wire, since it has low electric resistance and is excellent in heat transfer. When a silver alloy is employed in order to improve strength in diameter reduction working as well as to improve heat resistance in heat treatment, it is preferable to use palladium, which is completely solid soluted with silver for effectively increasing the melting point, as a metal for alloying silver. In this case, an Ag - 3 to 30 wt.% Pd alloy is excellent in particular. This is because rates of increase in strength and melting point are small if addition of palladium is less than 3 percent by weight, while reaction between palladium and the material forming the ceramics system superconductor or its precursor easily takes place if it exceeds 30 percent by weight. The material for forming the employed ceramics system superconductor or its precursor is a Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system material, which has a strong cleavage property and can be easily prepared by a unidirectional solidifying method, or a Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system material, whose critical temperature Tc exceeds 100 K. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing such a state that a bulk type ceramics system superconductor or its precursor 1 obtained by carrying out steps included in an embodiment of the present invention is charged in a metallic pipe 2. Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing such a state that the superconductor or its precursor 1 shown in Fig. 1 is reduced in diameter in the state charged in the metallic pipe 2. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, an embodiment of the present invention is generally described. As shown in Fig. 1, a bulk type ceramics system superconductor or its precursor 1 having crystal orientativity is prepared by a method as hereinabove described. This bulk type ceramics system superconductor or its precursor 1 is charged in a metallic pipe 2 which is formed of silver or a silver alloy, for example. Then, as shown in Fig. 2, diameter reduction working is carried out by the aforementioned method. The structure shown in Fig. 2 is thereafter heat treated. The diameter reduction working and the heat treatment may be alternately repeated a plurality of times. Thus, a desired superconducting wire is obtained. Examples of the present invention are now described in more concrete terms. Example 1 and Comparative Example. A bulk material of 5 mm in diameter prepared by a floating zone melting method and having composition of Bi 2 Sr 2 Ca 1 Cu 2 O x , whose longitudinal direction was oriented perpendicularly to the c-axes, was charged in an Ag - 10 wt.% Pd alloy pipe of 4.5 mm in inner diameter and 7 mm in outer diameter, and worked into a tape-type wire of 5 mm in width and 0.2 mm in thickness by swaging, wire drawing and rolling. Heat treatment was performed on this wire at 840°C for 50 hours, to obtain a sample with a frequency of repetition of the aforementioned rolling and heat treatment of "one time" (comparative example). Thereafter the rolling and the heat treatment were alternately repeated, to obtain samples with frequencies of repetition of "two times" to "six times" respectively. As to the respective ones of these samples, sectional dimensions and critical current density values Jc in zero fields at the liquid nitrogen temperature were measured, to obtain the results shown in the following Table 1. Frequency of Repetition Sectional Dimension Density Critical Current One Time (Comp Ex) 5.0 mm Wide 0.2 mm Thick 30000 A/cm 2 Two Times 5.5 mm Wide 0.18 mm Thick 50000 A/cm 2 Three Times 5.8 mm Wide 0.16 mm Thick 60000 A/cm 2 Four Times 6.0 mm Wide 0.15 mm Thick 70000 A/cm 2 Five Times 6.2 mm Wide 0.14 mm Thick 75000 A/cm 2 Six Times 6.3 mm Wide 0.13 mm Thick 70000 A/cm 2 When powder having composition of Bi 2 Sr 2 Ca 1 Cu 2 O x was charged in the same silver alloy pipe as that employed in Example 1 and subjected to similarworking and heat treatment as reference example, on the other hand, merely low Jc of 2000 A/cm 2 was obtained. Apparent density of a superconductive material forming the core of the obtained superconducting wire was 99 % in the former, while it was 80 % in the latter. Further, the structures of the sections were observed, and orientation was recognized over the entire region in the former, while orientation was disturbed in the central part of the core in the latter. Further Comparative Example A sintered body of 4 mm x 2 mm in section prepared by a hot pressing method and having composition of Bi 0.7 Pb 0.3 Sr 1 Ca 1 Cu 1.8 O x , whose longitudinal direction was oriented perpendicularly to the c-axes, was charged in a rectangular pipe of an Ag - 20 wt.% Pd alloy, and worked into a tape-type wire of 6 mm in width and 0.1 mm in thickness by rolling and press working. Heat treatment was performed on this wire at 845°C for 200 hours, to attain properties of Tc = 110 K and Jc = 25000 A/cm 2 . Industrial Applicability Thus, the superconducting wire obtained according to the present invention is effectively applied to a superconducting magnet or a superconducting cable, since the same has high critical current density.

Claims: A method of producing a ceramics system superconducting wire provided with superconductivity by a ceramics system superconductive material, said method of producing a ceramics system superconducting wire comprising: a step of preparing a ceramics system superconductor or its precursor; a step of charging said superconductor or its precursorinto a metallic pipe (2); a step of performing diameter reduction working for elongation said superconductor or its precursor in the state being charged in said metallic pipe; and a step of heat treating said superconductor or its precursor after said diameter reduction working step; said diameter reduction working step and said heat treatment step are alternately repeated a plurality of times; wherein said ceramics system superconductor or its precursor contains a Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system oxide or a Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O system oxide , characterized in that said step of preparing said superconductor or or its precursor includes a step of melting and solidifying a raw material for said superconductor or its precursor, said melting and solidifying step including a floating zone melting method, said ceramics system superconductor or its precursor is charged into the metallic pipe (2) in the form of a bulk type ceramics system superconductor or its precursor (1) having orientation in its crystal texture. A method of producing a superconducting wire in accordance with claim 1, wherein melting method. A method of producing a superconducting wire in accordance with claim 1, wherein said metallic pipe (2) is made of silver or a silver alloy. A method of producing a superconducting wire in accordance with claim 2, wherein said silver alloy is an Ag - 3 to 30 wt.% Pd alloy.

Inventors: HAYASHI KAZUHIKO, NONOYAMA HISAO, HAYASHI, KAZUHIKO, NONOYAMA, HISAO, HAYASHI, KAZUHIKO, C/O OSAKA WORKS OF SUMITOMO, NONOYAMA, HISAO, C/O OSAKA WORKS OF SUMITOMO
Applicants: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: H01B13
IPC codes: H01L39, C04B35, H01B13, B28B1, H01B12