Deliberately introducing defects by particle irradiation is an effective way to increase the flux pinning in high-critical-temperature superconductors, which is a requirement for technological applications of these materials. Proton irradiation generates a random distribution of point defects, which largely enhances the critical current in YBa 2 Cup7_x single crystals; but it is not effective in shifting the irreversibility line to higher magnetic fields. The aligned columnar defects created by high-energy heavy-ion irradiation generate even stronger vortex pinning, resulting in higher critical currents at high temperatures and fields and a large displacement of the irreversibility line to higher fields. -1 a " ~ 0 o 1 ><10 15 cm-2
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.