Superconducting coil fabrication

A method of fabricating a superconducting coil, by fabricating individual coil windings by depositing, shaping and texturing superconductive material and buffer material on a former which has a substantially curved surface, the method comprising the steps of:

• forming a textured buffer layer on the former;
• depositing a first layer of superconductive material over the textured buffer layer so as to copy the crystallographic texture of the textured buffer layer to the first layer of superconductive material;
• depositing a second buffer layer over the first layer of superconductive material so as to copy the crystallographic texture of the first layer of superconductive material to the second buffer layer;
• depositing a second layer of superconductive material over the second buffer layer so as to copy the crystallographic texture of the second buffer layer to the second layer of superconductive material;
• depositing further buffer layers and layers of superconductive material alternately so as to copy the crystallographic texture of each underlying layer to each overlying layer, the depositing, shaping and texturing forming successive coil windings in the layers of the superconductive material;
• forming a reinforcement shell on the coil after depositing the layers of superconductive material;
• forming a textured layer on the surface of the reinforcement shell to define a further buffer layer using the same process as used on the textured buffer layer;
• and forming further coil windings by the addition of sequential superconducting and buffer layers,
• wherein all the depositing steps take place in a film deposition chamber, and
• wherein the depositing of the buffer layers occurs from one side of the deposition chamber, and the depositing of the layers of superconductive material occurs from the opposite side of the deposition chamber, and the former is rotated during each deposition step.

A method of fabricating a superconducting coil, by fabricating individual coil windings by depositing, shaping and texturing superconductive material and buffer material on a former which has a substantially curved surface, the method comprising the steps of:

• forming a textured buffer layer on the former;
• depositing a first layer of superconductive material over the textured buffer layer so as to copy the crystallographic texture of the textured buffer layer to the first layer of superconductive material;
• depositing a second buffer layer over the first layer of superconductive material so as to copy the crystallographic texture of the first layer of superconductive material to the second buffer layer;
• depositing a second layer of superconductive material over the second buffer layer so as to copy the crystallographic texture of the second buffer layer to the second layer of superconductive material;
• depositing further buffer layers and layers of superconductive material alternately so as to copy the crystallographic texture of each underlying layer to each overlying layer, the depositing, shaping and texturing forming successive coil windings in the layers of the superconductive material;
• forming a reinforcement shell on the coil after depositing the layers of superconductive material;
• forming a textured layer on the surface of the reinforcement shell to define a further buffer layer using the same process as used on the textured buffer layer;
• forming further coil windings by the addition of sequential superconducting and buffer layers;
• and
• providing connecting links between the layers of the superconductive material.