Doping dependence of irreversibility line in Y1−xCaxBa2Cu3O7−δ

The irreversibility lines (IL) for series of Y_1?xCa_xBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ (x = 0.025; 0.10 and 0.20) polycrystalline samples with different overdoping were investigated. The irreversibility fields were determined from measurements of third harmonics AC susceptibility as a function of DC field at constant temperature. For the weakly overdoped sample (with x = 0.025) H_irr(77 K) is about 7 T, which is higher than the previously reported for the non-substituted one. The irreversibility line behavior is typical for glass–liquid phase transition and this is confirmed by transport measurements. On increasing the overdoping the irreversibility fields were shifted towards lower temperatures. The behavior of H_irr(T) for the highly overdoped sample (with x = 0.20) is influenced by the surface barrier effect. It is supposed that in highly overdoped specimen the process of phase separation is enhanced and the Fermi clusters grow in size. This leads to a suppression of the bulk pinning and to a domination of the surface barrier effects and flux creep as well. As a confirmation, the obtained quadratic J_c(T) dependences were presented demonstrating the existence of S–N–S type inter-grain joints in the highly overdoped samples.     

Stable barium compounds in YBa2Cu3Oy superconductors

The stability of various amounts of Ba₃Cu₃In₄O₁₂ (334) or BaTbO₃ (BTO) in a sintered YBa₂Cu₃O_y (YBCO) matrix was examined. Samples with added 334 or BTO exhibited critical temperatures (T_c) above 90 K for up to 20 vol.% addition and improved critical current densities (J_c) under a magnetic field. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis indicated that 334 and BTO did not react with the YBCO matrix under the sintering conditions used. The normalized J_c under a magnetic field of 1 T reached a maximum at 14 vol.% of 334 addition and 20 vol.% BTO addition. YBCO thin films with added BTO showed a gradual decrease in the T_c with increasing BTO content. YBCO films with added 334 showed a constant T_c of 87 K up to a 334 content of 4 vol.%.     

Preparation of solution-based YBCO films with BaSnO3 particles

The YBCO films with BaSnO₃ (BSO) particles were prepared on LAO (0 0 1) substrates by metal organic deposition using trifluoroacetates (TFA-MOD) via introducing SnCl₄ powders into the YBCO precursor solution. It was found that with the increase of the SnCl₄ contents, the slower decomposition and higher temperature for nucleation during the reaction were requested compared to that of pure YBCO film. The YBCO films with different contents of Sn with dense surface and well c-alignment were obtained under optimized heat treatment, and the BaSnO₃ phases were detected by XRD analysis. Litter effect of BSO particles on the T_c and J_c values of YBCO films was found. All YBCO films with BSO particles had T_c values over 90 K and J_c values over 1 MA/cm². A significant enhancement of J_c was observed for YBCO films with BSO particles compared to that of pure YBCO film by the field dependence of J_c values. The best property was obtained for YBCO film with 6 mol.% Sn at 77 K under magnetic field. The results showed that the J_c value of YBCO film with 6 mol.% Sn was enhanced by a factor of 2 in 2 T, and over a factor of 10 beyond 4 T compared to that of pure YBCO film.     

Pinning,thermally activated depinning and their importance for tuning the nanoprecipitate size and density in high Jc YBa2Cu3O7−x films

YBa₂Cu₃O_7?x (Y123) films with quantitatively controlled artificial nanoprecipitate pinning centers were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and characterized by transport over wide temperature (T) and magnetic field (H) ranges and by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The critical current density J_c was found to be determined by the interplay of strong vortex pinning and thermally activated depinning (TAD), which together produced a non-monotonic dependence of J_c on c-axis pin spacing d_c. At low T and H, J_c increased with decreasing d_c, reaching the very high J_c ～ 48 MA/cm² ～20% of the depairing current density J_d at 10 K, self-field and d_c ～ 10 nm, but at higher T and H when TAD effects become significant, J_c was optimized at larger d_c because longer vortex segments confined between nanoprecipitates are less prone to thermal fluctuations. We conclude that precipitates should extend at least several coherence lengths along vortices in order to produce irreversibility fields H_irr(77 K) greater than 7 T and maximum bulk pinning forces F_p,max(77 K) greater than 7–8 GN/m³ (values appropriate for H parallel to the c-axis). Our results show that there is no universal pin array that optimizes J_c at all T and H.     

The effect of pinning centers in Zn-doped CuBa2Ca3Cu4O12−y high-temperature superconductors

CuBa₂Ca₃Cu₄O_12−y (Cu:1234) high-temperature superconductors (HTS) doped with up to 2% Zn were grown using the high-pressure synthesis technique. Magnetization loops of the samples were measured at various temperatures between 5 and 77.3 K and magnetic fields up to 14 T. Critical current densities J_c of the samples were estimated using the critical state model. The results show that Zn-induced pinning centers increase J_c of Cu:1234 several times, depending on field and temperature. From the experimentally determined field-temperature region in which a higher Zn concentration lead to a higher J_c, we suggest the existence of a cross-over from quite efficient, extended (in the c-axes direction) pinning centers to point-like (inefficient) pinning centers at a certain temperature, depending on field. This effect can be attributed to the fact that, unlike other HTS, in Cu:1234 there is a second critical temperature T_c2 of about 70–80 K (in zero field, and 50–60 K in 15 T), related to the over-doping of pyramidal basal plane (outer CuO₂ plane).     

Fluctuation induced magneto-conductivity studies in YBa2Cu3O7−δ + xBaZrO3 composite high-Tc superconductors

Fluctuations on the electrical conductivity of polycrystalline YBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ + xBaZrO₃ (x = 1.0, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 wt.%) superconductors were investigated from the resistivity vs. temperature data for zero field and 8 T (Tesla) external magnetic fields. Attempts have been made to identify the optimum inclusion of BaZrO₃ (BZO) in YBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ (YBCO) superconductors. The phase formation, texture and grain alignments were analyzed by XRD and SEM techniques. Then the effects of superconducting fluctuations on the electrical conductivity of granular composite superconductors were studied for zero field and 8 T external magnetic fields. Though inclusions of BZO sub-micron particles are not expected to influence superconducting order-parameter fluctuation (SCOPF) much, the transition from 2D to 3D of the order parameter in the mean-field region depends on the BZO content in the composites. It has been observed that BZO residing at the grain boundary of YBCO matrix influences the tailing region without having significant change in the mean-field critical temperature. In the present work, attention has been focused mostly in the experimental domain relatively above the T_c. It reveals that, 1 wt.% composite exhibits a better superconducting property in comparison with pure YBCO.     

Magnetic properties of RPdIn (R=Gd–Er) compounds

AC susceptibility and DC magnetization measurements were performed for the RPdIn (R=Gd–Er) compounds both in the paramagnetic and in the ordered state. In opposite to GdPdIn, which is a ferromagnet (T_c=102 K), the other samples show a complex ferrimagnetic behavior with the additional transition at T_t<T_c. In the high-temperature phase (for T_t<T<T_c), a ferromagnetic interaction dominates, while in the low-temperature phase (for T⩽T_t) antiferromagnetic interactions with the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, especially strong for TbPdIn, come into play. The ordering temperatures are T_c=70, 34, 25 and 12.3 K for Tb-, Dy-, Ho- and ErPdIn respectively, while transition temperatures are T_t=6, 14 and 6 K for Tb-, Dy- and HoPdIn respectively. TbPdIn reveals an additional transition at 27 K connected with the intermediate ferrimagnetic phase. The critical fields for the magnetization process of the low-temperature phase are high (52 and 150 kOe for TbPdIn and 32 kOe for DyPdIn at T=4.2 K) yet these values decrease remarkably with increasing temperature. Results of the study are compared with magnetic and neutron diffraction data hitherto available. We state that irreversibility of the zero-field cooled–field cooled magnetization is not connected with the spin-glass phase claimed elsewhere.     

Effect of Boron substitution on the superconductivity of non-oxide perovskite MgCNi3

We report synthesis, structural and magnetic (DC and AC) properties of Boron substituted MgCNi₃ superconductor. A series of polycrystalline bulk samples Mg_1.2C_1.6?xB_xNi₃ (x=0.0, 0.08 and 0.16) is synthesized through standard solid-state reaction route, which are found to crystallize in cubic perovskite structure with space group Pm3m. Rietveld analysis of observed XRD data show that lattice parameters expand from a=3.8106 (4) Å for pure, to 3.8164 (2) Å and 3.8173 (5) Å for 5% and 10% Boron substituted samples respectively. DC magnetization exhibited superconducting transition (T_c) at around 7.3 K for pure sample, and the same decreases slightly with Boron substitution. The lower critical field (H_c1) at 2 K is around 150 Oe for pure sample, which increases slightly with Boron substitution. For pure sample the upper critical field (H_c2) being determined from AC susceptibility measurements is 11.6 kOe and 91.70 kOe with 50% and 90% diamagnetism criteria respectively, which decreases to 5.57 kOe and 42.5 kOe respectively for 10% Boron substituted sample. 10% Boron substitution at Carbon site has decreased both the H_c2 and T_c. On the other hand lower critical field (H_c1) at 2 K is slightly increased from around 150 Oe for pure sample, to 200 Oe for 10% Boron substituted sample. Seemingly, the Carbon site Boron substitution induced disorder though has increased slightly the H_c1 but with simultaneous decrease in superconducting transition temperature (T_c) and upper critical field (H_c2). The high relative proportion of Ni in studied MgCNi₃ suggests that magnetic interactions are important and non-oxide perovskite structure make it interesting.     

The effect of chemical pressure in rutheno-cuprates

We have studied the effect of negative chemical pressure in the RuGd_1.5(Ce_0.5?xPr_x)Sr₂Cu₂O_10?δ with Pr content of 0.0 ? x ? 0.2. This is also investigated using the bond length results obtained from the Rietveld refinement analysis. The c parameter and cell volume increase with x for 0.0 ? x ? 0.15. The width of the resistivity transition also increases with Pr concentration, indicating higher inhomogeneity and oxygen deficiency. The difference in the ionic valences of Pr^3+,4+ and Ce⁴⁺ causing different hole doping, the difference in the ionic radii, and oxygen stoichiometry affect the superconducting transition. The magnetoresistance shows a cusp around 135 K which lies between the antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic transition temperatures, which is probably due to the presence of a spin glass region. There exist two magnetic transition temperatures for 0.0 ? x ? 0.2 which respectively change from T_M = 155 K to 144 K and from T_irr = 115 K to 70 K. The magnetization versus applied magnetic field isotherms at 77 K and 300 K show that the remanent magnetization and coercivity are lower for samples with higher Pr content.     

Reduced crystallization time of YBCO in a fluorine-free MOD process using uv-lamp irradiation

We have studied the crystallization time dependence of the epitaxial YBCO films (t = 0.8 μm) grown on CeO₂-buffered SrTiO₃ substrates by fluorine-free metal–organic deposition using uv-lamp irradiation (uv-MOD). As increasing the time (T₀) for heat treatment at the reaction temperature (760 °C) from 0 to 90 min, J_c and the YBCO 0 0 l XRD intensity are steeply increased and reach their maximum values at T₀ = 10 min. This suggests that the heat treatment required for YBCO crystallization is significantly shortened in uv-MOD compared to conventional all-pyrolytic F-free MOD processes, which consume T₀ = 90–150 min for crystallizing 0.4–0.5-μm-thick films. Scanning electron microscope measurement revealed a drastic change in surface morphology between T₀ = 8 and 10 min, showing a good correspondence to the J_c and XRD data which suggest that the epitaxial growth reaches the film surface at the very early stage in the heat treatment.     

Influence of Zr and Ce doping on electromagnetic properties of (Gd,Y)–Ba–Cu–O superconducting tapes fabricated by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

(Gd,Y)Ba₂Cu₃O_x tapes have been fabricated by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) with Zr-doping levels of 0–15 mol.% and Ce doping levels of 0–10 mol.% in 0.4 μm thick films. The critical current density (J_c) of Zr-doped samples at 77 K, 1 T applied in the orientation of H 6 c is found to increase with Zr content and shows a maximum at 7.5% Zr doping. The 7.5% Zr-doped sample exhibits a critical current density (J_c) of 0.95 MA/cm² at H 6 c which is more than 70% higher than the J_c of the undoped sample. The peak in J_c at H 6 c is 83% of that at H 6 a–b in the 7.5% Zr-doped sample which is more than twice as that in the undoped sample. Superconducting transition temperature (T_c) values as high as about 89 K have been achieved in samples even with 15% Zr and 10% Ce. Ce-doped samples with and without Ba compensation are found to exhibit substantially different J_c values as well as angular dependence characteristics.     

Intrinsic pinning properties of FeSe0.5Te0.5

The intrinsic pinning properties of FeSe_0.5Te_0.5, which is a superconductor with a critical temperature T_c of approximately 14 K, were studied through the analysis of magnetization curves obtained using an extended critical state model. For the magnetization measurements carried out with a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), external magnetic fields were applied parallel and perpendicular to the c-axis of the sample. The critical current density J_c under the perpendicular magnetic field of 1 T was estimated using the Kimishima model to be equal to approximately 1.6 × 10⁴, 8.8 × 10³, 4.1 × 10³, and 1.5 × 10³ A/cm² at 5, 7, 9, and 11 K, respectively. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of J_c was fitted to the exponential law of J_c(0) × exp(?αT/T_c) up to 9 K and the power law of J_c(0) × (1 ? T/T_c)ⁿ near T_c.     

Growth of Cu0.5Tl0.5Ba2Ca3Cu4−yZnyO12−δ superconductor with optimum carriers

We have tried to vary the carriers concentration in Cu_0.5Tl_0.5Ba₂Ca₃Cu_4?yZn_yO_12?δ (y = 0, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5) superconductor with the help of post-annealing experiments carried out in nitrogen, oxygen and air and to investigate its effects on the superconductivity parameters. The zero resistivity critical temperature [T_c(R = 0)], the magnitude of diamagnetism and critical current [I_c(H = 0)] are found to increase in Zn free samples after post-annealing in oxygen and air, while these superconducting properties have been suppressed after post-annealing in nitrogen at 550 °C for 6 h. The post-annealing of Zn-doped samples in air has marginally increased the superconducting properties, while these properties have been suppressed after post-annealing in nitrogen and oxygen. These studies have led us to the definite conclusion that the Zn-doped material has grown with optimum carriers concentration.     

High-field phase-diagram of Fe arsenide superconductors

Here, we report an overview of the phase-diagram of single-layered and double-layered Fe arsenide superconductors at high magnetic fields. Our systematic magneto-transport measurements of polycrystalline SmFeAsO_1-xF_x at different doping levels confirm the upward curvature of the upper critical magnetic field H_c2(T) as a function of temperature T defining the phase boundary between the superconducting and metallic states for crystallites with the ab planes oriented nearly perpendicular to the magnetic field. We further show from measurements on single-crystals that this feature, which was interpreted in terms of the existence of two superconducting gaps, is ubiquitous among both series of single- and double-layered compounds. In all compounds explored by us the zero temperature upper critical field H_c2(0), estimated either through the Ginzburg–Landau or the Werthamer–Helfand–Hohenberg single gap theories, strongly surpasses the weak-coupling Pauli paramagnetic limiting field. This clearly indicates the strong-coupling nature of the superconducting state and the importance of magnetic correlations for these materials. Our measurements indicate that the superconducting anisotropy, as estimated through the ratio of the effective masses γ =  (m_c/m_ab)^1/2 for carriers moving along the c-axis and the ab-planes, respectively, is relatively modest as compared to the high-T_c cuprates, but it is temperature, field and even doping dependent. Finally, our preliminary estimations of the irreversibility field H_m(T), separating the vortex-solid from the vortex-liquid phase in the single-layered compounds, indicates that it is well described by the melting of a vortex lattice in a moderately anisotropic uniaxial superconductor.     

Anomalous Zn- and Ni-substitution effects on superconductivity in the superconducting weak ferromagnets RuSr2RCu2O8 (R = Gd,Eu)

The effect of magnetic Ni and non-magnetic Zn impurities on superconducting transition temperature T_c in RuSr₂R(Cu_1?x(Ni, Zn)_x)₂O₈ with R = Gd or Eu (Ni- and Zn-substituted Ru1212Gd(Eu)) was extensively studied. It is found that the suppression rate dT_c/dx of RuSr₂R(Cu_1?x(Ni, Zn)_x)₂O₈ is comparable to that of underdoped YBa₂(Cu_1?x(Ni, Zn)_x)₃O_7?δ. The suppression of superconductivity in Ni-substituted Ru1212Eu samples is more significant than that in Zn-substituted ones, indicative of Ni being a more effective pair-breaker than Zn. In strong contrast, the magnetic Ni impurity atoms have a weaker effect on superconductivity than non-magnetic Zn atoms in Ru1212Gd, similar to what was observed in the high-T_c cuprates. These intriguing findings strongly suggest that the impurity-induced local disturbance of the 3d-spin correlation at Cu sites around Ni/Zn is distinctly different between Ru1212Gd and Ru1212Eu.     

Superconducting properties of the pyrochlore oxide Cd2Re2O7

We report the superconducting properties of the pyrochlore oxide Cd₂Re₂O₇. The bulk superconducting transition temperature T_c is about 1.0 K, and the upper critical field H_c2 determined by the measurement of specific heat under magnetic fields is 0.29 T. The superconducting coherence length is estimated to be 34 nm. Specific heat data measured on single crystals suggest that the superconducting gap of Cd₂Re₂O₇ is nodeless.     

Increase of critical current density with doping carbon nano-tubes in YBa2Cu3O7−δ

The effects of carbon nano-tubes (CNTs) on the crystal structure and superconducting properties of YBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ (Y-123) compound were studied. Samples were synthesized using standard solid-state reaction technique by adding CNT up to 1 wt% and X-ray diffraction data confirm the single phase orthorhombic structure for all the samples. Current–voltage measurements in magnetic fields up to 9 T were used to study the pinning energy U_J and critical current density J_c as a function of magnetic field at fixed temperature. We find that while T_c does not change much with the CNT doping (91–92 K), both U_J and J_c increase systematically up to 0.7 wt% CNT doping in a broad magnetic field ranges between 0.1 and 9 T and J_c in the 0.7 wt% CNT doped sample is at least 10 times larger than that of the pure Y-123. The scanning electron microscope image shows that CNTs are forming an electrical-network between grains. These observations suggest that the CNT addition to the Y-123-compounds improve the electrical connection between superconducting grains to result in the J_c increase.     

Ultrasound studies of single crystal thulium in an applied magnetic field

The paper reports the first measurements of the single crystal elastic constants of the heavy rare earth metal thulium as a function of temperature and magnetic field. The constants were obtained from ultrasonic velocity measurements over a temperature range of 4.2–296 K and in applied magnetic fields of up to 5 T. The elastic constants; C₁₁, C₃₃, C₄₄ and C₆₆=(C₁₁–C₁₂)/2 were determined from the ultrasonic velocities. Anomalies in the elastic constants were observed at 58 K from the c-axis propagated shear wave measurements and at 55 K from the c-axis propagated longitudinal wave measurements. Significant softening of the elastic constants C₃₃ and C₄₄ was observed close to T_N. Application of a magnetic field (>2 T) along the c-axis direction induced further softening of the material. Electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) were also employed in addition to conventional piezoelectric quartz transducers. A marked increase in the EMATs acoustic coupling efficiency (generation and detection efficiency) occurred close to T_N.     

A new method for estimating the critical current density of a superconductor from its hysteresis loop

The critical current density J_c of some of the superconducting samples, calculated on the basis of the Bean’s model, shows negative curvature for low magnetic field with a downward bending near H = 0. To avoid this problem Kim’s expression of the critical current density, J_c = k/(H₀ + H), where J_c has positive curvature for all H, has been employed by connecting the positive constants k and H₀ with the features of the hysteresis loop of a superconductor. A relation between the full penetration field H_p and the magnetic field H_min, at which the magnetization is minimum, is obtained from the Kim’s theory. Taking the value of J_c at H = H_p according to the actual loop width, as in the Bean’s theory, and at H = 0 according to an enhanced loop width due to the local internal field, values of k and H₀ are obtained in terms of the magnetization values M⁺(?H_min), M^?(H_min), M⁺(H_p) and M^?(H_p). The resulting method of estimating J_c from the hysteresis loop turns out to be as simple as the Bean’s method.     

AC response of YBa2Cu3O7 thin film superconductor

Low-field ac measurements of magnetic susceptibility of YBa₂Cu₃O₇ high-temperature superconducting thin film were carried out over a wide range of temperatures and ac magnetic field amplitudes. A strong field dependence of the real χ′ and imaginary χ″ components was observed. The field dependence of the imaginary component is used to extract the temperature dependence of the critical current density in the sample using the critical state model. The exponent β of the power law relation J_c ～ (1 ? T/T_c)^β was determined from ac-susceptibility data and different values were found. Experimental results are compared with predictions of some existing theoretical models describing the ac response of superconducting thin film in perpendicular ac field.