Introduction to Section E5: Superconductor Contacts

Electrical contacts are a subject of immense importance throughout all electrical/electronic engineering. Although the topic is probably not regarded generally as particularly exciting, and the popular view is that the technology is well established and few problems remain, contacts nevertheless remain fundamental to the operation and application of all electrical systems and particularly those that operate at high power. The subject of contacts has been, and continues to be, a considerable challenge in the development of high-power superconducting technology and is a broad area of research in itself. This important chapter consists of three sub-sections, namely “E5.1 Superconductor to normal-metal contacts”, “E5.2 Resistive high current splices” and “E5.3 Persistent-current joints”.