Stability of the Meissner state in a 3D ordered Josephson medium

The stability of the Meissner state of a 3D Josephson medium against combinations of phase jump small fluctuations at contacts is considered. Expressions for the elements of the quadratic form matrix for the second variation of the Gibbs potential are derived. Overheat field values and forms of fluctuations causing instabilities are found. Ratio H _S1/H _S2, where H _S1 is the overheat field and H _S2 is the maximal field at which the Meissner state still exists, grows with increasing pinning parameter I, varying between 0.84 and 1. Almost at all pinning parameters, critical fluctuations represent rapidly decreasing (inward to the sample) periodic alternating-sign structures one cell wide. When the pinning parameter is very small (I < 0.1), such an instability is absent. In this range of I, ratio H _S1/H _S2 is close to unity.     

The flux distribution and hysteresis losses in highT c superconductors including viscous forces on flux lines

By comparing the contributions of pinning and viscous forces to the restoring force on flux ines in type II and highT _c superconductors, it is shown that the flux flow in highT _c superconducto rs should play an important role in determining the magnetic flux distribution and hence the hyste resis losses in a.c. fields. Both quantities are calculated in the extreme case of very large viscous forces with respect to the pinning force. The magnetic field and frequency dependence of the losses are changed with respect to the results obtained from the critical state model. The theoretical results are qualitatively confirmed by a.c. susceptibility measurements at different magnetic field amplitudes and frequencies. The quantitative differences indicate that the flux flow effects in highT _c superconductors are by far not so strong as expected and supposed by some theories. The reasons for these discrepancies are discussed.     

Enhancement of critical current density in Gd123 bulk superconductor doped with magnetic powder

We studied the materials processing to grow high performance magnet with doping of magnetic powder as candidature of pinning centers. The magnetic powder was doped into Gd123 matrix and grew into single domain bulk in air. With doping magnetic powder in Gd123 bulk superconductors, the flux pinning was enhanced and the underlying mechanism was discussed. The experimental results showed that suitable amount of magnetic powder inclusion can be effect as pinning center to enhance the J_c of the bulk both in low magnetic field and high magnetic field, which was different from the bulk doped with paramagnetic nano-scaled particles. The T_c of the bulk was suppressed obviously with the content of the magnetic powder increasing, form 93.0 K without doping decrease to 90.5 K with 0.12 wt.% doping. This is consistent with that the magnetic impurities generally suppress superconductivity. We report the detailed results from the viewpoint of practical application to increase the integrated flux trapped inside the bulk.     

不同粒径纳米Y2Ba4CuBiOy 相掺杂对TSIG法单畴YBCO超导块材性能的影响

本文采用顶部籽晶熔渗方法(TSIG), 研究了不同粒径纳米Y₂Ba₄CuBiO_y粒子对单畴YBCO超导块材的生长形貌、微观结构及其磁悬浮力的影响.实验所用纳米Y₂Ba₄CuBiO_y粉体的平均粒度分别为283.0 nm, 170.4 nm以及82.5 nm, 每种粉体在YBCO超导块材中的含量均为2 wt%. 研究结果表明: 在掺杂量为2 wt%的情况下, Y₂Ba₄CuBiO_y粉体的粒度并不影响样品的宏观形貌, 均可制备出单畴YBCO块材; 并且成功地将纳米Y₂Ba₄CuBiO_y粒子引入单畴YBCO块材中, 且使其均匀分布, 但样品中的Y₂Ba₄CuBiO_y粒子均小于其初始粉体的粒度, 分别减小到270 nm, 150 nm和50 nm; 随着Y₂Ba₄CuBiO_y粉体初始粒度的减小, 样品的磁悬浮力逐渐增大, 分别为10 N, 17 N, 22 N. 该结果为进一步研究纳米磁通钉扎中心的引入方法及提高YBCO超导块材的性能有重大意义.     

Pinning of vortices and penetration of the magnetic field into a periodically modulated long Josephson contact

The upper field of the Meissner regime, H _up, and overheat field H′_c1, above which vortices start penetrating into a Josephson contact, are calculated throughout the range of pinning parameter I. The stability of likely configurations is investigated. It is shown that H _up = H′_c1 at any I. The existence of a single vortex centered at the extreme cell in the contact is demonstrated to be a possibility. At I > 3.69, such a vortex may exist even in a zero magnetic field. At 1.48 < I < 3.69, this vortex can exist in an external field in the range from some H _v to H _up. At I < 1.48, the vortex cannot exist under any conditions. From the equality of H _up and H′_c1 at any I, the conclusion is drawn that penetration of vortices into any Josephson medium is conditioned by the need to satisfy flux quantization conditions. Here, not the forces of vortex pinning at defects in the medium but quantization requirements are of major importance, which are satisfied in specific quantum ways rather than by meeting equilibrium conditions for vortices, forces, etc.     

Spatial variation of superconducting properties of Gd123 Bulk superconductors with magnetic particles addition

Magnetic flux trapping and the homogeneity of the flux pinning are essential problems in the practical application of high-temperature superconductors. We have conducted study on the role of addition of soft magnetic Fe-B alloy particles contribute to the enhancement of the critical current density (J_c) under wide-range of magnetic field. Magnetic flux trapping was enhanced in Gd123 bulk superconductor with suitable amount of magnetic particles addition. In addition, it can be effective as pinning center enhance the J_c of the bulk in both the a–b growth sector and the c-growth sector under magnetic field. However, the T_c of the Gd123 bulk was decreased obviously by addition of magnetic particles. The study on the spatial variation of superconducting properties indicates that the performance of the upper part of the bulk is better than the bottom. By comparing the superconducting properties of the Gd123 bulk with magnetic particles addition and without magnetic particles addition, we concluded that there is a trace of the formation of homogeneous pinning properties in the magnetic particles addition Gd123 bulk.     

Low-field peak effect in type II superconductors

The combined effect of a surface (edge) barrier and volume pinning on the dependence of critical current I _c on the magnetic field (I⊥H ₀) in bulk type II superconductors is investigated. In low magnetic fields, there is a portion of the curve I _c(H ₀) where I _c grows with H ₀, causing a nontrivial peak effect in this field range. Such behavior is explained by the combined effect of a surface (edge) barrier and volume pinning, the latter being rather sensitive to the transport current density distribution in a superconductor.     

Noncollinear orientation of external magnetic field and flux lines penetrating an isotropic hard superconductor

Penetration by Abrikosov flux lines of an isotropic hard superconductor in the critical state induced by changes in the orientation of external magnetic field has been theoretically investigated. The analysis has been based on the microscopic nonlocal model taking into account forces of bulk and surface pinning, alongside magnetic forces of interaction of the row of penetrating vortices with existing flux lines, Meissner currents, and vortex images. New vortices penetrate a superconductor only when the angle through which the field is rotated is larger than a certain critical value. It has been determined that the alignment of entering vortices is essentially different from that of the applied magnetic field. The feasibility of detecting noncollinearity effects is discussed. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 1804–1816 (November 1998)     

Anomalous magnetization jumps in granular Pb superconducting films

In granular superconductors, the grain boundaries are closely related to the vortex dynamics and the macroscopic superconducting properties. In our research, Pb films with different grain sizes were prepared by tuning the substrate temperature. With the grain size decreasing, Pb films are prone to feature the anomalous magnetization jumps in the M − T curves, while in the M − H curves flux avalanche happens. Both phenomena appear in the same region of the H − T phase diagram and thus are considered to have the same origin. The further theoretical analysis shows that with grain size decreasing the pinning mechanism evolves from a mixed δT_c and δl pinning to the δl pinning mechanism. The results shed light on the study of pinning mechanism for granular superconductors and is beneficial to the potential application of manipulating vortex pinning by regulation of intrinsic defects.     

Critical currents due to flux pinning in cylinders of type I superconductor (Pb-Ag)

Some preliminary studies of flux pinning in cylinders of type I superconductors are reported (12 μ silver powder in lead). These show that when a magnetic field appreciably greater than $\text{1}\text{2}\text{H}{}_{\mathrm{c}}$ is applied perpendicular to the sample axis, the critical current densities are fairly small (e.g. 5.5 × 10⁶ Am^-2 at $\text{3}\text{4}\text{H}{}_{\mathrm{c}}$), but are of the same order that one might expect in a low κ type II superconductor with similar pinning, and that the critical current density is directly proportional to the density of pinning centres in the material, surface currents playing no important role.     

Two-Dimensional Coulomb Glass as a Model for Vortex Pinning in Superconducting Films

A glass model of vortex pinning in highly disordered thin superconducting films in magnetic fields B ≪ H_c2 at low temperatures is proposed. Strong collective pinning of a vortex system realized in disordered superconductors that are close to the quantum phase transition to the insulating phase, such as InO_x, NbN, TiN, MoGe, and nanogranular aluminum, is considered theoretically for the first time. Utilizing the replica trick developed for the spin glass theory, we demonstrate that such vortex system is in non-ergodic state of glass type with a large kinetic inductance per square L_K. The distribution function of local pinning energies is calculated, and it is shown that it possesses a wide gap; i.e., the probability to find a weakly pinned vortex is extremely low.

     

Magnetic and Mössbauer studies of the superconductor Eu(Dy,Gd)Ba2Cu3O7−δ

The changes of the microstructures of bulk single-phase Eu_1–x Dy _x Ba₂Cu₃O_7– and Eu_1–y Gd _y Ba₂Cu₃O_7– superconductors due to (Dy, Gd)-doping were investigated by the Mössbauer effect. The pinning potentials of the samples were calculated by magnetization relaxation analysis. The interaction between the magnetic moment of magnetic rare-earth cations and flux lines in these samples was considered as a predominant pinning mechanism in highT _c superconductors in this paper.     

Paramagnetic intrinsic Meissner effect in a bulk

We calculate the free energy of a quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) superconductor with ξ_⊥ < d in a parallel magnetic field, where ξ_⊥ is a perpendicular to the conducting layer coherence length and d is the interlayer distance. It is shown to be different from that in the famous Lawrence-Doniach model. In particular, at high enough magnetic fields, the Meissner currents are found to create an unexpected paramagnetic moment due to the shrinking of the Cooper pairs “sizes” in a direction perpendicular to the conducting layers. We suggest measuring this paramagnetic intrinsic Meissner effect in Q2D superconductors and superconducting superlattices. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

MAGNETIZATION CHARACTERISTICS OF YBaCuO BULK MATERIAL FABRICATED BY THE SEEDING TECHNIQUE

YBaCuO (YBCO) bulk materials with large superconductive domains were fab-ricated using a small SmBa₂Cu₃O_x grain as the seed for growth, The capacities of strong flux pinning and well grain linking in the material have been shown in the investigations on magnetization loop end ac susceptibility. The strong flux pinning made it possible for the large YBCO bulk to capture a great dea. l of flux and keep the residual magnetism stable. The residual field intensity H_rem was shown to have a maximum of 0.125 T after the 0.5 T NdFeB magnetizing field was moved away. We did not find much decline of H_rem in a short time. The magnetized YBCO bulk pro-duced repulsive force upon another YBCO bulk as the permanent magnet did. We measured and calculated the force between two YBCO bulks. The theoretical result was in agreement with the experimental one by and large.     

Pinning of planar vortices and magnetic field penetration in a three-dimensional Josephson medium

The behavior of planar (laminar) vortices in a three-dimensional, ordered Josephson medium as a function of the parameter I, which is proportional to the critical junction current and the cell size, is investigated with allowance for pinning due to the cellular structure of the medium. The minimum possible distances between two isolated vortices are calculated. A system of vortices formed in a sample in a monotonically increasing external magnetic field is analyzed. The minimum distance from the outermost vortex to the nearest neighbor is proportional to I ^−1.1. For I⩽1.3 each vortex contains a single flux quantum Φ₀, and the distance between them does not decrease in closer proximity to the boundary but remains approximately constant, implying that the magnetic field does not depend on the coordinate in the region penetrated by vortices. These facts contradict the generally accepted Bean model. The sample magnetization curve has a form typical of type II superconductors. Allowance for pinning raises the critical field H _c and induces a sudden jump in the curve at H=H _c. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 67, 38–46 (September 1997)     

Effect of vortex pinning by point defects on the lower critical field in layered superconductors

The lower critical field H _c1 in layered superconductors is calculated under the assumption that vortex pinning by point defects is strong in these materials. We consider the case of a purely electromagnetic coupling of vortex pancakes and the case of both the electromagnetic and Josephson couplings of the pancakes in a vortex line. In the latter case, singularities in the temperature dependence of H _c1 are predicted at certain characteristic temperatures.     

Microstructure and flux distribution in both pure and carbon-nanotube-embedded Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ superconductors

In order to improve pinning properties of bulk Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ (Bi-2212) materials, samples of both pure Bi-2212 and Bi-2212 with carbon nanotubes embedded (CNTE Bi-2212) have been prepared by partial-melting processing. The preparation conditions are chosen so that a significant fraction of carbon nanotubes can be successfully embedded in the material, as indicated by thermogravimetric analysis. The microstructure and composition of non-superconducting second phases are found to be different in these two types of samples. By means of magneto-optical (MO) imaging, flux distributions in both types of samples are investigated up to T=77 K. The MO investigation reveals the propagation of a flux front in both pure and CNTE Bi-2212, showing that there is a strong coupling between grains (clusters) which enables the flow of inter-granular currents. This grain coupling persists in our field range of ±180 mT. In bulk non-textured ceramic high-T_c superconductors, the flux fronts caused by currents flowing through the entire sample are observed for the first time. Intra-granular current densities are obtained from the images as a function of grain size. The MO investigations have revealed the differences in the current densities caused by the presence of carbon nanotubes, showing that the carbon nanotubes are indeed functioning like columnar defects produced by heavy-ion irradiation. The increase of the flux penetration field is also a manifestation of the increase of the transport current density in the CNTE Bi-2212. The superconducting properties in our samples are very well reproducible.     

Observation of the Meissner effect in polysulphur nitride, (SN)x

The superconductivity of (SN)_x is definitely established by the observation of a Meissner effect with the magnetic field applied perpendicular and parallel to the (SN)_x fibre axis. Considerable flux trapping is observed and the magnetization curves are similar to those expected for coupled filamentary type II superconductors.     

Low-temperature scanning electron microscopy for studying inhomogeneities in thin-film high-T c superconductors

Low-temperature scanning electron microscopy can provide important information on the local superconducting properties of thin-iilm high-T _c superconductors. The principle of this method is outlined, including the spatial resolution limit. The spatial variations observation of the local values of the critical temperature and of the critical current density represent highly important applications of this method. The spatial variations of flux pinning and flux flow can be also studied.