Electrically Conductive, Thermally Insulating Cryogenic Current Leads

Résumé du livre

"The present invention relates generally to electrically conductive current leads and more particularly to thermally insulating electrically conductive current leads. According to the present invention, a thermally insulating, electrically conductive current lead assembly consisting of a low thermal loss substrate and a series of thick film high temperature superconductive elements deposited on the substrate is provided. The substrate is a ceramic, preferably yttria-stabilized zirconia or fused silica. The high temperature superconductor may be YBa [subscript] 2, Cu [subscript] 3, O [subscript] 7-x, or a superconductive compound in the Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O or TI-Ca-Ba-Cu-O systems. The superconductor is deposited on the substrate using screen-printing techniques and fired at elevated temperatures (800-950°C) to density the superconductive elements. Novel aspects of the present invention include providing a current lead assembly which exhibits low thermal conductivity in the cryogenic region, which can withstand the operational stresses imposed on space-borne systems and which can be used to electrically connect an infrared detector to data acquisition electronics. The lead assembly is generally applicable to any cryogenic system in which heat transfer across the lead is to be minimized."--Page i.