Films and getters · Future bench (deployed)
REBCO high temperature superconductor tapes
REBCOvalues describe: REBCO tape
Fusion, privateBig science (accelerators, light sources, public fusion)
What it enables
The material bet behind compact high-field fusion: (RE)Ba2Cu3O7 coated conductors carry current at 20 K and 20 T, shrinking the tokamak and its vacuum vessel with it.
Status and pusher
Deployed at machine scale in the SPARC magnet program (VIPER-class cables); pushed by CFS and MIT, with every fusion startup watching tape supply.
Watch out
Quench detection and tape cost are the program risks, not the physics.
Properties
The values below are candidate: compiled from the sources named, not yet individually validated. Provisional provenance: EUROfusion and international fusion materials programmes.
Wet cleaning
| Recipe | as delivered; the tape architecture is sealed |
|---|---|
| Forbidden | moisture: REBCO degrades with water exposure |
| Limit | insulation and stabiliser compatibility, not the superconductor |
Temperature
| Bake, assembled | 150 °C |
|---|---|
| Metallurgical limit | Tc 92 K; the tape delaminates under transverse stress |
Mechanical
| Strength | tape, delamination limited |
|---|
Electrical and magnetic
| Relative permeability | type II, Tc 92 K |
|---|---|
| Resistivity | zero below Tc |
Engineering
| Corrosion | moisture sensitive |
|---|---|
| Joining | soldered joints |
| Process notes | 20 T at 20 K is what makes compact fusion arguable |
| Availability and cost | ramping fast, still constrained |
Grades
| REBCO coated conductor tape | Hastelloy substrate, buffered, Cu stabilized |
|---|