Research project title
Characterization of high-temperature superconducting wires by pulsed current and/or magnetic field
Education level
Master or doctorate
Director/co-director
Director: Frédéric Sirois
Co-director(s): Christian Lacroix
End of display
December 31, 2026
Areas of expertise
Experimental methods and instrumentation
Primary sphere of excellence in research
Innovative Materials
Secondary sphere(s) of excellence in research
Modeling and Artificial Intelligence
Unit(s) and department(s)
Department of Electrical Engineering
Laboratory of Superconductivity and Magnetism (LSM)
Department of engineering physics
Conditions
The project is primarily aimed at students who have completed a bachelor's or master's degree in engineering physics, physics, or materials science, and who are interested in contributing to the advancement of fundamental knowledge and models related to high-temperature superconducting materials. Knowledge of French is highly desirable for a master's project, but less essential for a doctorate. The project will take place exclusively in the laboratories of Polytechnique Montréal, but an internship in a foreign university (France, Japan, or the United States) is also planned.
Detailed description
For more than 15 years, our research team has been seeking to characterize superconducting ribbons at high critical temperatures under extreme operating conditions, to understand better the physical mechanisms involved during the transition between the superconducting state and the normal state, and to refine the electrical resistivity models of these materials for use in finite element simulation software. We have developed a particular mastery of measurement techniques using pulsed currents and magnetic fields, which is associated with a unique and highly specialized research infrastructure and data analysis methods. The new knowledge acquired in our research program is used to support more applied projects, particularly to optimize the architecture of superconducting wires (ribbons) and cables, making them more efficient and robust in various applications, such as strong magnetic field electromagnets, short-circuit current limiters for electrical networks, electric motors, etc.
As part of this master's or doctoral project, the student will be required to:
- Perform experimental measurements using pulsed current/magnetic fields on different types of superconducting wires/ribbons placed in a cryogenic environment (between 20 and 100 K) and subjected to high currents (over 1000 A) and strong magnetic fields (up to 5 T for the moment, a ~20 T system is under construction)
- Analyze and interpret data using various numerical analysis tools and physical principles, to develop mathematical models of the electrical resistivity of superconductors under these extreme conditions
- Implement new resistivity models in finite element software to test their numerical performance and representativeness for modeling other types of experiments, particularly the dynamics of hot spot nucleation in superconducting wires
- Continuously improve current experimental setups (printed circuit board design, circuit design, sample holders, LabVIEW programming, soldering, 3-D part printing, etc.)
Please contact Professor Frédéric Sirois (https://www.polymtl.ca/expertises/en/sirois-frederic) for more information about the project mentioned above. PLEASE PROVIDE a CV, your MARK TRANSCRIPTS, and a LETTER OF MOTIVATION which also briefly explains your background, otherwise your application will not be considered.
Financing possibility
Financial support of 20,000$/year at the Master's level or 26,000$/year at the Ph.D. level could be available, under certain conditions, to pursue the research mentioned above. Exact conditions, such as the duration of the scholarship, must be discussed with the research supervisor. A funding supplement could be awarded in case of an excellence scholarship award from NSERC, FRQNT, or else.
Frédéric Sirois
Full Professor
