High temperature Superconductor wire available

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American Superconductor (AMSC) is the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire.
AMSC currently has inventory of first generation (1G) HTS wire available for purchase and is scaling
manufacturing capacity for its second generation (2G) HTS wire called 344 superconductors

The HTS wires AMSC manufactures today conduct over 150 times the electrical current of copper wire of the same dimensions, which dramatically reduces the size and weight of electrical equipment and significantly increases the power throughput of power cables. These characteristics offer product developers the ability to design components with HTS wire -- such as coils for industrial and naval motors or generators -- that deliver much higher power density and can offer additional benefits such as reduced manufacturing and maintenance costs.

1G (1st Generation) HTS Wire
BSCCO 2223 is a commonly used name to represent the HTS material Bi(2-x)PbxSr2Ca2Cu3O10.  This wire has a typical superconducting transition temperature around 110 Kelvin.

2G (2nd Generation) HTS Wire
Second generation wire has a significantly different architecture compared to 1G wire. The architecture of 2G HTS wire, which comprises multiple coatings on a base material, or substrate, is designed to achieve the highest degree of alignment possible of the atoms in the superconductor material. The objective is to achieve the highest possible electrical current carrying capacity. While the high degree of alignment of the atoms in an HTS material can be achieved by many different laboratory techniques, the business challenge is to achieve this alignment with a high volume, low cost manufacturing methodology. The AMSC wire’s “three-ply” architecture â€" consisting of slit 2G tape sandwiched between thin copper or stainless steel strips â€" is similar to that of AMSC’s commercial 1G HTS wire. AMSC’s 2G HTS wire is called 344 superconductors, as it relates to the 3-ply, 4.4 cm width of the finished wire.

More info  http://www.amsc.com/products/htswire/index.html

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We maintain an active development program for both low and high temperature superconductors. The LTS effort is primarily directed towards maintaining our leading position in NbTi conductors, and towards increasing the current density in Nb3Sn conductors at very high fields. The HTS effort is directed towards ultra high field magnets.
We have a range of favourable offers on our superconducting wire overruns.

The very best high field performance attainable in Nb3Sn is provided by OST’s RRP wire.  A focused  development effort over the last 10 years has resulted in a 3-times increase in critical current density at 20 tesla in this wire.  This performance has enabled two world-record setting magnets: a 950 MHz NMR magnet, and a 16 tesla dipole magnet.

NbTi/Cu matrix wire is useful for magnets up to field strengths of 10 - 11 tesla.  The data table shows examples of OST 54 filament wire with a Cu:superconductor ratio of 1.35.  A wide range of additional wires is available, please inquire for products that best suit your application.

More info
http://www.oxford-instruments.com/products/superconducting-wires/Pages/superconducting-wires.aspx

[Omega_0]

Can you also give a rough idea about prices ?
And are samples available for R&D ?