Patent ID: 8252725

Claim:
A fault current limiter comprising: a superconducting device having a sequence of superconducting elements, each superconducting element comprising an electrically conducting substrate, a superconducting film and an electrically insulating intermediate layer disposed between said substrate and said superconducting film, superconducting films of adjacent superconducting elements of said sequence being electrically connected, wherein said electrically conducting substrate of each superconducting element of said sequence is electrically insulated from each electrically conducting substrate of adjacent superconducting elements within said sequence whose superconducting films are electrically connected in series with said superconducting film of said superconducting element, at least one of said superconducting elements comprising an electric contact between a respective said superconducting film and a respective said electrically conducting substrate through a respective said insulating layer, wherein said electrical contact is substantially located in a middle between regions where said superconducting element is electrically connected to a previous and to a subsequent superconducting element.