YBCO Tape Conductor Characterization Probe for Various Temperatures and Fields

An experimental probe has been designed and built to measure the critical current of YBCO tapes and cables as a function of magnetic field and temperature. The probe allows controlling the temperature between 4.2 and 80 K in liquid and gaseous helium ambient, and can be used in two different test facilities, providing magnetic fields up to 2 and 14 T, respectively. Critical current measurements were performed on a single YBCO tape at self-field at temperatures between 20 and 70 K.