Photograph of the SmO1-xFxFeAs wires. SEM images for a typical transverse (a) and a longitudinal (b) cross-section of the wire after heat treatment.
Via the conventional powder-in tube method, a research team led by MA Yanwei with the CAS Institute of Electrical Engineering has been successful in fabricating LaO0.9F 0.1FeAs wires with the superconducting critical transition temperature (Tc) of about 25K. The wire, first of its kind in the world, is of importance for possible practical applications, according to experts. The work was published in a recent issue of Superconductor Science and Technology after having filed for a patent right.
Furthermore, by teaming up with a research group led by WEN Haihu from the CAS Institute of Physics, Ma and his co-workers have made progress in preparing SmO1-xFxFeAs wires with Tc as high as 52K. As its upper critical fields could reach about 120T, the new materials promise an encouraging application perspective, note the researchers.
Interest in superconductors has been renewed since the February, 2008 when Japanese scientists discovered La(O1-xFx)FeAs with Tc of 26 K. Before their discovery, the only known high-Tc superconducting materials were cuprates.
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