Celia LUCAS, PhD student in the group of Applied Superconductivity with a position funded by Innosuisse, was awarded the Best Student Award at the 2025 Coated Conductor for Applications Workshop (CCA-2025). Her work, titled “Delamination of REBCO Tapes Induced by Electromagnetic Forces: An Experimental Study,” was selected as one of the top three student contributions of the workshop.
Celia’s research is directly relevant to optimizing the design and performance of ultra-high field magnets, such as those used in fusion reactors and particle accelerators. The weak adhesion between the layers of REBCO coated conductors poses a significant challenge, as it limits the allowable transverse tensile stress and, thus, the conductor’s performance under the Lorentz forces in high-field environments. By replicating real operating conditions, Celia’s experiments offer a novel method to directly measure the delamination strength of these conductors. Her findings are essential for informing magnet design strategies that mitigate degradation and ensure the reliability and efficiency of future high-field magnet applications.