Critical Current Control in YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δFilms Using Artificial Pinning Centers

Abstract

High-temperature superconductors can carry high non dissipative currents at low temperatures as long as quantized vortices are pinned. However, the currents in a magnetic field at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) are not sufficiently high for practical use due to the weak pinning. For the improvement of nondissipative currents in YBa2Cu3O7-δ films, linear defects that extended to the c-axis of the film were introduced using a novel nanostructure technology. We observed a marked enhancement of the nondissipative currents even at 77 K and high fields when the fields were applied close to the c-axis. This is a clear demonstration of enhanced pinning using artificially incorporated pinning centers.

Influence of growth temperature on the vortex pinning properties of pulsed laser deposited YBa2Cu3O7−x thin films

“…Such improved pinning samples have produced H irr values of Ͼ9 T at 77 K. 19,21,22,24,37 Figure 7 compares the pinning force curve for the best present sample ͑760°C͒ with a recent PLD YBCO film made with ϳ5 vol % of strong-pinning Y 2 BaCuO 5 ͑Y211͒ nanoprecipitates. 25 The latter has approximately twice the F p value over the whole field range, its F p max being 8.8 GN/ m 3 , although actually J c sf was only 3.4 MA/ cm 2 .…”

Vortex shaking study of REBCO tape with consideration of anisotropic characteristics

“…This c-axis angular peak might be caused by the artificial pinning centers. Previous research shows that the introduction of nanoparticles such as BaZrO3 [31], Y2BaCuO5 [32] into YBCO films could results in artificial pinning centers with strong pinning forces, thus greatly increasing the in-field critical current density [33]. This technology is introduced in the manufacturing of SuperPower tapes [34], which is where the experimental tape from, therefore the c-axis peak in high external field is reasonable.…”

Formation of stacking faults and their correlation with flux pinning and critical current density in Sm-doped YBa2Cu3OWee1, Specht2, Cantoni3 et al. 2011Phys. Rev. B

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] In particular, epitaxial growth of self-organized, non-superconducting nanoscale defects aligned parallel to the c-axis of the film has resulted in strongly improved pinning and enhanced J c , particularly for the case where the magnetic field is also aligned parallel to the c-axis, H║c. [4][5][6] In addition to the incorporation of nanoscale defects, rare-earth (RE) element substitution in YBCO has been considered a complementary method for synergistic enhancement of flux-pinning.…”