Recent developments of practical superconducting materials

Superconductivity has broad and significant potential applications, not only in energy storage, high-speed railway transportation, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and ultra-strong magnetic field generation, but also in potentially much larger markets for electric power equipment such as motors, generators, power transmission cables, transformers and fault-current limiters for the electric utility grid. Performance improvement in practical superconducting materials is the foundation of application development. The overall picture of superconductor conductors is diverse and developing rapidly. Currently, practical superconducting materials comprise mainly Nb-based low-temperature wires, bismuth-strontium-calcium copper oxide high-temperature superconducting tapes, yttrium barium copper oxide coated conductors, MgB₂ wires, and new Fe-based tapes. A review is presented here of the fabrication issues, key properties and recent developments of these materials, with an assessment of the challenges and prospects for future applications. (author)