Characterization and comparison of new bulk superconductors – SUPERFOAM

This project concerns the properties of bulk superconductors. Indeed, they have high critical currents and can be magnetized to very high magnetic flux densities of several Tesla. The main applications of the bulk samples are levitation, supermagnets, electrical motors and magnetic gears. New type of bulk samples became recently available, and their possibilities will be explored in detail.
This project has three main aims. Firstly, features of three kinds of materials, MgB2, FeSe and YBCO should be critically compared to each other with respect to respective applications. Secondly superconducting foams, a new kind of bulk superconductors, should be studied and characterized. The characterization of all these bulks is a major work of this project. Several methods should be employed, electrical methods and magnetic methods and for different temperatures in order to obtain a full picture. Thirdly, the final aim is the measurement of the magnetization of the superconducting bulk, in situ, directly in the application. It's obvious, that the ultimate purpose of this project is to identify which material is promising for the energetic efficiency of electrical engineering applications.