Superconducting cable

A cable employing an oxide superconductor, comprising:

• a flexible core member;
• a plurality of tape-shaped oxide superconducting wires being laid on said core member with tension of not more than 2 kgf/mm2 wherein each tape-shaped superconducting wire consisting essentially of an oxide superconductor and a stabilizing metal covering the same,
• said plurality of tape-shaped superconducting wires forming a plurality of layers each being formed by laying a plurality of said tape-shaped superconducting wires in a side-by-side manner,
• said plurality of layers being successively stacked on said core member without an insulating layer between the plurality of layers and the core member,
• said core member providing said superconducting cable with flexibility,
• said superconducting cable capable of maintaining a superconducting state at the temperature of liquid nitrogen,
• said wires having substantially homogeneous superconducting phases along the longitudinal direction of said wire,
• the c-axes of said superconducting phases being oriented substantially in parallel with the direction of thickness of said wire,
• said superconducting wires being formed by grains aligned in parallel extending along the longitudinal direction of said wire,
• said grains being stacked along the direction of thickness of said wire, and wherein said core member is a pipe having a braid surface on its exterior which forms a surface for the tape-shaped superconducting wires.