Ac-Josephson effect in YBa2Cu3O7/YBa2Cu3O7 point contact junctions

The ac-Josephson effect could be demonstrated up to dc voltages of 20 mV on the I–V characteristic of adjustable YBa₂Cu₃O₇/YBa₂Cu₃O₇ point contacts at 4.2 K. A detailed analysis of the rf power dependence of the size of microwave-induced constant voltage steps is given for microwave frequencies of 70 and 90 GHz. The results prove that electron pairing is responsible for the superconductivity in YBa₂Cu₃O₇.     

Vortex-creep activation energy in YBa2Cu3O7/PrBa2Cu3O7 superlattices

YBa₂Cu₃O₇/PrBa₂Cu₃O₇ (YBCO/PBCO) superlattices with a different ratio of the superconducting and insulating layer thicknesses were prepared by high pressure dc sputtering. The vortex-creep activation energy U₀ was determined by analyzing the in-plane resistive transition of 200 μm wide bridges with the external magnetic field B oriented along the c axis. It was found that U₀ is proportional to the thickness of the YBCO layers, and does only weakly depend on the PBCO layer thickness, when the latter exceeds two unit cells. We observed a change in the variation of U₀ with the current I in the specimen: U₀ exhibits a plateau in the low-I region, then decreases significantly with increasing I. This behaviour is explained in terms of a crossover plastic vortex creep – elastic (collective) creep induced by the transport current.     

Macroscopic persistent currents in YBa2Cu3O7

Persistent currents in polycrystalline YBa₂Cu₃O₇ rings have been investigated by measuring the spatial distribution of the magnetic flux trapped in field-cooled samples. The results unambiguously show that macroscopic persistent ring currents exist. The critical current density depends very sensitively on the sample quality, reachingj _c 250 A/cm² at 77 K for our best samples.     

Ultrasonic measurements on polycrystalline YBa2Cu3O7

Temperature dependent ultrasonic attenuation data of polycrystalline YBa₂Cu₃O₇ at 10 MHz show a plateau between 220 and 250 K, and slope changes at 263, 135 and 97 K. The attenuation does not display a sharp decrease at T_c as would be described in the BCS theory. Around 255 K, the sound velocity in the sample increases from its room temperature value by more than 10%.     

Femtosecond-excimer-laser patterning of YBa2Cu3O7 films

Projection patterning of Y-Ba-Cu-O films on (100) SrTiO₃ and (100) MgO substrates using femtosecond KrF-excimer-laser pulses is reported