HTS-coated conductors – the enabler for future power engineering

THEVA uses a proprietary coating technology to fabricate flexible HTS coated conductor tape, the base material for all kinds of electrical power applications. On a polished steel substrate foil, buffer layers and ceramic HTS coatings are applied by e-beam evaporation in a reel to reel process.

Even multi-component metal oxides like HTS are accessible to high rate e-beam evaporation by a patented trick. The granulate evaporation material is delivered in a thin trace to an e-beam heated hot spot where is it completely vaporized. In this way, it is possible to preserve composition without sophisticated control.

Cooled by liquid nitrogen, the superconducting tape can carry two hundred times more current than a copper wire of the same dimensions – and this without losses. This material will be the essential ingredient for future high capacity power cables, generators, motors, transformers, switchgear, and other electrical machinery.