CTD Awarded Two Department of Energy SBIRs

June 14, 2021

CTD was awarded two Phase I Release 2 SBIRs by the US Department of Energy to develop new technologies for High Energy Physics and Fusion applications. Work on each Phase I begins in June of 2021, lasting through March of 2022. These awards continue the more than 30 year legacy of CTD delivering advanced material solutions for the scientific community.

Award 1: Superconducting Magnets (Superconducting Magnet Technology – Fusion Energy Sciences) – Demonstration of High Shear Strength Insulation for Fusion Applications

This technology will enable the development of higher magnetic field REBCO magnets targeted for next generation fusion devices. These compact devices may be more amenable for local-scale fusion energy application and will thus enable one possible solution to the world’s ever-increasing need for clean energy. This development will additionally impact future magnets for applications including the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the construction of HTS magnets for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) systems, and Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems.

Award 2: Superconductor Technologies for Particle Accelerators (High Energy Physics) – Interface Control as a Means of Reducing Training in High Energy Physics Magnets

This program provides a generalized approach to reducing training of superconducting magnets through improvements by reducing the impacts of insulation cracking in the winding, thereby reducing training and enabling the science goals expressed in the 2014 Report for the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) [1]. Magnet systems developed for use in high energy physics ultimately lead to improved systems applicable to medical and other advanced imaging applications. This approach is also expected to benefit next-generation, higher field superconducting magnets, based on newer high temperature superconductors (HTS). Other industries and product areas that will benefit from the proposed technology include the aerospace industry (e.g., satellites, space-based antenna systems) and advanced electronics.