I-Corps: Electrodeposited Superconductor Coatings

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括使具有超导涂层的材料能够广泛地取代超导材料。超导体有望实现更高效的电力传输线、更好的电机和高速量子计算，但到目前为止，这种材料的制造成本和缺乏可扩展性一直是个问题。这种超导涂层的替代将有助于克服在交通、能源和量子计算领域实施这些材料的障碍，从而加快这些领域的技术发展。该项目的成功还将降低由超导磁体(如MRI)实现的先进医疗设备的门槛，并改善医疗保健结果。i-Corps项目进一步开发了用于制造超导涂层和其他金属或合金薄膜涂层的电化学工艺。这项技术的关键创新是使用一种新型的水电解液来抑制水和质子在水电解液中的活性，同时保持操作的简易性、工艺与当前使用的工艺的兼容性以及环境友好性。这种抑制直接导致了过程中的能量节约，并且由于避免了那些不希望的反应的副产物的加入，薄膜的形貌得到了显着的改善。更重要的是，通过这种低温工艺沉积的薄膜的超导电性是在比材料本身更高的温度下观察到的，这种提高的临界温度显示了对器件制造中使用的高温工艺的改进的稳定性。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project includes enabling wide spreading replacement of superconducting materials with materials with a superconductive coating. Superconductors have the promise of enabling vastly more efficient power transmission lines, better electric motors, and high-speed quantum computing, however the expense and lack of scalability in the fabrication of the materials has thus far proven problematic. This replacement with superconductive coatings will help overcome obstacles to implementing these materials in the transportation, energy, and quantum computing fields, thus accelerating technological development in these areas. The success of this project will also lower the barriers for advanced medical equipment enabled by superconducting magnets such as MRI and improve the healthcare outcomes.This I-Corps project further develops an electrochemical process for the fabrication of superconducting coatings and other metal or alloy thin film coatings. The key innovation in this technology is the use of a new type of aqueous electrolyte to suppress the activity of water and proton in an aqueous electrolyte, while maintaining the ease of operation, compatibility of the process with current processes in use, as well as the environmental friendliness. This suppression directly results in an energy savings during the process and the morphology of films is significantly improved as the incorporation of the byproduct of those undesired reactions are avoided. More importantly, the superconductivity of the film deposited from this low temperature process was observed at a higher temperature than the material itself and this increased critical temperature has shown an improved stability against high temperature processing used in device fabrication.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.