Significantly enhanced critical current density and pinning force in nanostructured, (RE)BCO-based, coated conductor

High-temperature superconducting wires have many large-scale, niche applications such as commercial nuclear fusion as well as numerous other large-scale applications in the electric power industry and in the defense, medical and transportation industries. However, the price/performance metric of these coated conductor wires is not yet favorable to enable and realize most large-scale applications. Here we report on probing the limits of J_c (H, T) possible via defect engineering in heteroepitaxially deposited high-temperature superconducting thin-films on coated conductor substrates used for long-length wire fabrication. We report record values of J_c (H, T) and pinning force, F_p (H, T) in (RE)BCO films with self-assembled BaZrO₃ nanocolumns deposited on a coated conductor substrate. A J_c of ~190 MA/cm² at 4.2 K, self-field and ~90 MA/cm², at 4.2 K, 7 T was measured. At 20 K, J_c of over 150 MA/cm² at self-field and over 60 MA/cm² at 7 T was observed. A very high pinning force, F_p, of ~6.4 TN/m³ and ~4.2 TN/m³ were observed at 7 T, 4.2 K and 7 T, 20 K respectively. We report on the highest values of J_c and F_p obtained to date for all fields and operating temperatures from 4.2 K to 77 K. These results demonstrate that significant performance enhancements and hence far more favorable price/performance metrics are possible in commercial high-temperature superconducting wires.