Toward superconducting critical current by design

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new approach called critical current by design, which predicts optimal defect landscapes in superconductors to enhance their critical current, using simulations and experimental measurements.

Contribution

It presents the concept of designing superconductors with tailored defects to optimize critical current, combining experimental data with large-scale vortex dynamics simulations.

Findings

Successful demonstration of the critical current by design paradigm

Synergistic use of measurements and simulations for defect landscape optimization

Potential for targeted superconductor performance enhancement

Abstract

We present the new paradigm of critical current by design. Analogous to materials by design, it aims at predicting the optimal defect landscape in a superconductor for targeted applications by elucidating the vortex dynamics responsible for the bulk critical current. To highlight this approach, we demonstrate the synergistic combination of critical current measurements on commercial high-temperature superconductors containing self-assembled and irradiation tailored correlated defects by using large-scale time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations for vortex dynamics.