wiredinUSA December 2012

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wiredInUSA - December 2012 19
Superconductor Technologies Inc has com-
pleted acceptance testing of its solution
deposition planarization (SDP) system.
The equipment has been shipped and
received at STI's advanced manufacturing
center in Austin.
"We expect to have the system completely
installed and operational by 2012 year
end. Achieving this program milestone
positions us to meet the growing demand
for our Conductus® wire in 2013 and begin
preparations for commercial production
in 2014," said Adam Shelton, STI's VP of
marketing and product line management.
The SDP and an ion beamassisted deposition
(IBAD) machine, installed in April, will be
used to produce one kilometer lengths of
complete wire template. The template will
then be used in a reactive coevaporation
cyclic deposition and reaction (RCE-CDR)
system that was installed in October. The
RCE-CDR system deposits the HTS material
onto the template using STI's proprietary
process.
For proper growth of superconducting
materials, surface conditions must be very
smooth. SDP creates a smooth starting
surface, while eliminating the need to
polish the template, reducing both
cost and chemical waste. This process
eliminates strong acids associated
with electroplating alternatives. STI has
produced SDP templates with one
nanometer root mean square (RMS) surface
roughness starting from unpolished metal
tape.
SDP for STI