| ac | alternating current |
| ASC | American Superconductor Corporation |
| CRADA | cooperative research and development agreement |
| dc | direct current |
| DOE | U.S. Department of Energy |
| DOE-HQ | DOE Headquarters |
| DTA | differential thermal analysis |
| DTA/TGA | differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetric analysis |
| EBSP | electron beam backspatter patterns |
| EDS | energy-dispersive spectroscopy |
| fcc | face-centered cubic |
| FWHM | Full width half maximum |
| HTS | high temperature superconductivity/superconductor/superconducting |
| IBAD | ion-beam-assisted deposition |
| IBM | International Business Machines |
| Ic | critical current |
| IGC | Intermagnetics General Corporation |
| Jc | critical current density |
| Kc | critical current per unit width of conductor (Ic/w) |
| ORNL | Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| PIT | powder-in-tube |
| PLD | pulsed-laser deposition |
| PNZT | lead niobium zirconium titanate |
| RABiTS | rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrates |
| RBS | Rutherford Backscattering Spectra |
| RG&E | Rochester Gas and Electric Company |
| RTA | rapid thermal annealer |
| SEM | scanning electron microscopy |
| SUNY | State University of New York |
| Tc | critical temperature/transition temperature |
| TEM | transmission electron microscopy |
| TGA | thermogravimetric analysis |
| Ts | sintering temperature |
| WES | Waukesha Electric Systems |
| XRD | X-ray diffraction |
| YSZ | yttria-stabilized zirconia |