Modification of a Second-Generation HTS Tape Based on GdBCO(123) under Pulsed Electron Beam Irradiation

Abstract

Samples of composite second-generation high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes based on the GdBCO (123) compound have been irradiated in a pulsed electron accelerator (system Terek-2, GPI RAS) through a tantalum target in order to determine how the thermal and shock loads arising on the tantalum-HTS interface affect the superconducting parameters of HTS tapes. Scanning Hall magnetometry was applied to characterize HTS samples subjected to electron irradiation. The thermal modes and shock load in a composite superconductor under irradiation are estimated as functions of the energy absorbed by the target. At a silver surface temperature equal to the melting point, the critical current decreases by 87% from the initial value. At lower irradiation energies, the decrease in the critical current is smaller. The role of the temperature effects and shock waves under this irradiation is discussed.