Speaker
Description
Superconductors, while displaying phenomenal physical properties, are impractical for many applications due to their low operational temperatures. A developing solution to this problem is the usage of dopants, which may improve several qualities found in a superconducting material, such as its critical temperature and microstructural morphology, greatly improving their practicality. For the production of many ceramic superconductors, a sintering and calcination process must occur, for which we have designed and manufactured a tube furnace using commonly available resources. Using a PID loop, we control our tube furnace with a microcontroller in conjunction with a relay, taking inputs from a high-temperature thermocouple. With this setup, we managed to create a stable linear ramp and constant soak for our heating curves. For our next steps, using YBa$_{2}$C$_{3}$O$_{7-ẟ}$ (Y123) as a basis for our superconductor, we will synthesize the YBCO ceramic through a citrate pyrolysis process, in which external elements such as Ag and Mg will be added during the sintering process. Confirmation of the superconducting state will be visually determined by means of the Meissner effect using LN$_{2}$, and data on the physical properties of the doped YBCO will then be collected by thorough experimentation with devices such as a four-wire setup and an Atomic Force Microscope.
