Patent ID: 7781376

Claim:
A superconducting wire, comprising: at least first and second superconducting layers disposed on one or more substrates in stacked relationship, the first superconducting layer comprising a first high temperature superconducting oxide selected to provide a first predetermined ratio of critical current in a magnetic field parallel to the surface of the superconductor layer to critical current in a magnetic field perpendicular to the surface of the superconductor layer (Ic(ab)/Ic(c)), and the second superconducting layer comprising a second high temperature superconducting layer selected to provide a second predetermined ratio of critical current in a magnetic field parallel to the surface of the superconductor layer to critical current in a magnetic field perpendicular to the surface of the superconductor layer (Ic(ab)/Ic(c)), wherein the first and second superconductor layers, in combination, provide a predetermined overall critical current Ic in a selected magnetic field orientation and wherein the first superconducting layer is selected to provide a higher critical current Ic(c) in a magnetic field perpendicular to the surface of the superconducting layer than the second superconducting wire and the second superconducting layer is selected to provide a higher critical current Ic(c) in a magnetic field parallel to the surface of the superconducting layer than the first superconducting wire.