Electromagnetic analysis of coated conductors with ferromagnetic substrates: Novel insights

Abstract

Ferromagnetic substrates can significantly influence the electromagnetic response of a coated conductor to an external magnetic field and transport current. This study analyzes this response theoretically using the thin shell integrodifferential model. First, assuming the substrate is strongly magnetic and the superconductor is in the Meissner state, we present the analytical solution in a convenient explicit form. This helps us to analyze the superconducting current density distributions, highlighting their differences from those in conductors with non-magnetic substrates. Secondly, for a superconducting layer characterized by a nonlinear current-voltage relation and a substrate with a finite field-independent magnetic permeability, we use an effective spectral numerical method to study the unique features of this hybrid superconductor/ferromagnet system, such as magnetization in a parallel external field and the peculiar nonmonotonic variation of loss observed when alternating transport current and parallel field are applied simultaneously. Dynamic losses for the case of a direct transport current and an alternating parallel field are also investigated. It is shown that tuning the phase and amplitude of the applied parallel field relative to those of the transport current can minimize AC losses.