Current density profiles of BSCCO tapes in the stacked conductor under different current feeding modes

Some applications of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) will require stacked HTS tapes. Previous studies have revealed that the vertical component of the self-magnetic field affects the current transport properties in HTS tapes. In the present work, we examined the current density profiles in a stacked conductor that consists of two identical BSCCO tapes placed, in parallel, one above the other at the distance of 50 μm2. We measured the vertical component of the magnetic field by a Hall probe with an active area of 0.05 × 0.05 mm2 above the stacked conductor at the height of 0.3 mm. The magnetic field profile was measured at different current feeding modes for analysis of its behavior. MATLAB code was developed to calculate current density profiles from measured data. The calculation results showed the flattening of current density profile in the top tape during various current feeding modes that is expected to be followed by increasing critical current. The critical current (Ic) increased in one tape of the stacked conductors and may be attributed to self-field influence of antiparallel currents in the second HTS tape. Measured Ic is enhanced on the top tape of stacked conductors by antiparallel currents, and this may be as a result of strong interaction between HTS tapes.