Superconductivity in sputtered thin films of Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O

Films of Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O have been made by multi-target magnetron sputtering. The best films show an onset of superconductivity at ≈ 110 K and zero resistance at 96 K. Preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis suggests the films to be predominantly oriented with the c-axis perpendicular to the film surface with the lowest multiple of lattice spacing along the c-axis being ∼ 2.94 nm, consistent with the Tl₂Ba₂CaCu₂O_x (2212) phase.     

Vortex pinning in thin superfluid films

We have formulated the theory of vortex pinning for thin film superfluids. The pinning site are closed regions where the superfluid density vanishes locally. Vortex pinning occurs due to vortex creation and annihilation at the boundaries of these regions and dominates pair processes in thicker films because of the cost of creating longer lengths of vortex line.     

Anisotropic pinning in Nb thin films with triangular pinning arrays

A superconducting thin film with regular triangular arrays has been fabricated to explore the anisotropic vortex pinning behavior. We found that the critical currents for these films depend strongly on the current directions. Some interesting temperature-dependent phenomena are observed and discussed. We also made molecular dynamic simulations to study the dynamics of the vortex motion. The simulation results confirm the anisotropic features we found in the experiments.     

Low-field vortex dynamics in various high-T c thin films

We present a novel ac susceptibility technique for the study of vortex creep in superconducting thin films. With this technique we study the dynamics of dilute vortices in c-axis oriented Y-123, Hg-1212, and Tl-1212 thin films, as well as a axis oriented Hg-1212 thin films. Results on the Hg-1212 and Tl-1212 thin films indicate that dislocation-mediated plastic flux creep of single vortices dominates at low temperatures and fields. As the temperature (or the field) is increased, the increasing vortex-vortex interactions promote a collective behavior, which can be characterized by elastic creep with a non-zero μ exponent. Also, in some of these samples effects of thermally assisted quantum creep are visible up to 45 K in some of these samples. In Y-123 thin films, creep is found to be collective down to the lowest temperatures and fields investigated, while the quantum creep persists only up to 10–11 K.     

Mechanisms of periodic pinning in superconducting thin films

We studied the changes in the superconducting properties of Nb films due to an array of Ni dots used as collective pinning sites. To determine the pinning mechanism, thin Ag layers of varying thicknesses were deposited on the Ni dots prior to the Nb film deposition. The Ag deposited on the pinning dots has little effect on the collective pinning phenomena, which implies that the main pinning mechanism is of magnetic origin.Received: 3 February 2004, Published online: 31 August 2004PACS: 74.25.Qt Vortex lattices, flux pinning, flux creep - 74.78.-w Superconducting films and low-dimensional structures     

Growth temperature dependence of flux pinning properties in ErBa2Cu3Oy thin films with nano-rods

Irreversibility lines and distributions of local critical current density (J_cl) based on the percolation transition model were affected by the growth temperature (T_s) in 3.5 wt.%-BaNb₂O₆-doped ErBa₂Cu₃O_y thin films. The vortex-Bose-glass-like state appeared by the introduction of nano-rods, and this vortex state was affected by T_s. The shape and width of the J_cl distribution strongly depended on T_s. These results are probably caused by variations of the density and the growth direction for nano-rods reflecting T_s. The growth temperature is an important factor to achieve higher critical current properties under magnetic fields for coated conductors of rare-earth-based cuprates with nano-rods.     

Angular dependence of the critical current density and the temperature scaling of the flux pinning force in YBCO thin film

In this paper, the critical current J_c(Θ) have been investigated as a function of magnetic-field angle Θ. Θ is the angle between the c-axis and the applied magnetic field direction. This investigation concerned three temperature values (60?K, 78?K and 81?K). The normalized pinning force f_p versus the normalized magnetic field h was also studied (f_p?=?F_p / F_pmax and h?=?H / H_max). The F_p expression was determined based on the Kramer model.The studied sample was a single crystal of YBaCuO thin film deposited by the ablation laser method on the surface (100) of a SrTiO₃ substrate.The results of this work show the existence of point core pinning of the normal centers in the low field regime and the occurrence of the flux creep in high field regime.     

Anomalous pinning behaviour in thin Nb3Ge films

Results concerning the pinning behaviour of thin Nb₃Ge films prepared by sputtering and evaporation onto hot sapphire substrates are reported. The validity of scaling laws in the range of magnetic fields up to 13 T has been verified. We have found that the pinning dependence in evaporated films obeys these laws, however, the maximum of the volume pinning force occurs at constant magnetic field value for sputtered Nb₃Ge films. A different microstructure of these two types of films is made responsible for the anomalous pinning behaviour described.     

Symmetry properties of the surface pinning parameter in magnetic thin films

Symmetry properties of the surface spin pinning parameter revealed experimentally in yttrium-iron garnet (YIG) films by spin-wave resonance measurements are interpreted on the basis of group-theoretical considerations. They are found to be defined by the classical space group of the material, and not by the magnetic (black and white) space group of the magnetic structure. Further experiments for the verification of this conclusion are suggested.     

Absence of correlated flux pinning by columnar defects in irradiated epitaxial Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 thin films

Using heavy-ion irradiation, we produced columnar defects of different density and orientation in epitaxial Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈ thin films. Although this increases the normal state resistivity and the critical temperature is reduced proportionally to the volume fraction of damaged material, pinning-related quantities like critical current density, activation energy and depinning field are enhanced in external magnetic fields. Transport measurements in dependence of the magnetic field and its orientation consistently indicate two-dimensional pinning of pancake vortices at the columnar defects. We observe the absence of correlated flux pinning by columnar defects and compare to heavy-ion-irradiated single crystals and tapes, where line-like correlations have been observed.     

Hall effect and pinning regimes in thin films doped with nanoparticles

Hall effect and flux pinning in YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x (YBCO) thin films doped with BaZrO₃ (BZO) nanoparticles is investigated. The results show that sign reversal of the Hall coefficient from positive hole-like to negative electron-like occurs in vortex-liquid regime of undoped and BZO-doped YBCO films. With increasing BZO concentration the amplitude of the negative Hall effect is suppressed while the temperature position of the anomalous Hall effect does not depend significantly on doping level. In addition, it is shown that Hall conductivity increases non-monotonically with increasing BZO doping. These results support a model where BZO at low doping concentration induces point pinning centres turning to strong columnar pinning defects in films doped with 4% BZO.     

Complex angle dependence of the surface pinning parameter in magnetic thin films

A complex angle dependence of the surface pinning parameter in magnetic thin films, assuming the form of the series expansion in spherical harmonics, is discussed.     

Power-law scaling of proton conductivity in amorphous silicate thin films

Amorphous hafnium silicate, a-Hf_0.1Si_0.9O_x, thin film with thickness of 32, 41, 55, 80, 110, 120, 180 and 320 nm was prepared by multiple spin-cast process and the proton conductivity across the films was measured at intermediate temperatures (100-400 °C) in dry atmosphere. The morphologically- and compositionally-uniform films were prepared on a substrate as confirmed by SEM, RBS and XPS measurements. a-Hf_0.1Si_0.9O_x thin film clearly revealed the H/D isotope effect on ionic conductivity, indicating that protonic conduction is dominant in the measured temperature range. The films did not reveal thickness-dependent proton conductivity in dry air and the σ at given temperatures is almost constant at any thickness. No increment of σ in a-Hf_0.1Si_0.9O_x thin films by reduction of thickness might be related to the absence of the highly-conductive acid network with mesoscopically-sized length because of the relatively low concentration of Brønsted acid sites inside films.     

Preparation of Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O thin films by diffusion of Tl into laser evaporated Ba2Ca2Cu3Ox films

Preparation of superconducting Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O thin films by diffusion of Tl into laser evaporated Ba₂Ca₂Cu₃O_x thin films is reported. From a sintered Ba₂Ca₂Cu₃O_x bulk sample we prepared using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser, Ba-Ca-Cu-O thin films on sapphire and SrTiO₃ single-crystal substrates. Subsequently the films were loaded with Tl by simultaneously annealing the films together with a sintered Tl₂Ba₂Ca₂Cu₃O₁₀ sample both enclosed in a small stainless steel box; in our procedure Tl contamination was reduced to a minimum. T_c values near 100 K and critical currents of 5·10³ A/cm² at 77 K were obtained.     

Vortex pinning in superconducting Nb thin films deposited on nanoporous alumina templates

We present a study of magnetization and transport properties of superconducting Nb thin films deposited on nanoporous aluminium oxide templates. Periodic oscillations in the critical temperature vs. field, matching effects in fields up to 700 mT and strongly enhanced critical currents were observed. These fields are considerably higher than those typical for periodic pinning arrays made by lithographic techniques, which reflects the benefits of nanostructuring superconductors by using self-organized growth. This method provides a periodic pinning potential with sub-100 nm spacing between the pinning centers, which enhances vortex pinning in broad field and temperature ranges.