Surface normal regions in superconducting Zr70Cu30 induced by thermal relaxation

Penetration depth measurements show that thermal heat treatment in amorphous Zr₇₀Cu₃₀ induces a normal region 5000 Å thick at the surface of ultrarapid quenched ribbons. Upper critical field measurements indicate that the new induced phase is a normal one while the rest of the sample remains as a homogeneous superconducting phase.     

Vortex dynamics in YBaCuO single crystals with point- and line-like defects-flux creep studies

Studies of vortex dynamics and pinning were conducted in irradiated Y₁Ba₂Cu₃O₇ single crystals by observing the decay of supercurrents with time. The materials contained either point-like defects from proton irradiation or line-like defects from irradiation with energetic heavy ions. Analysis of the first case gives clear support for collective creep theory. With linear defects, the experiments give evidence for thermal smearing of the vortex pinning potential at higher temperatures, as predicted theoretically.     

Structural and ferromagnetic properties of epitaxial SrRuO3 thin films obtained by polymer-assisted deposition

Epitaxial ferromagnetic SrRuO3 thin films with a room-temperature resistivity of 300 microOmega.cm have been successfully grown on LaAlO3(001) substrates at a processing temperature in the range of 550-750 degrees C by a polymer-assisted deposition technique. X-ray diffraction analysis shows good epitaxial quality of SrRuO3 thin films, giving values of the full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 0.42 degrees from the rocking curve for the (002) reflection and 1.1 degrees from the in-plane phi scan for the (204) reflection. Both the resistivity and the magnetization versus temperature measurements show that the SrRuO3 films are ferromagnetic with a transition temperature of 160 K. The spontaneous magnetization near the ferromagnetic transition follows the scaling law, and the low-temperature magnetization follows the Bloch law.     

Attenuation of interfacial pinning enhancement in YBCO using a PrBCO buffer layer

Numerous experimental results have suggested that the J_c of YBa₂Cu₃O₇ (YBCO) films is significantly higher near the film–substrate interface than in the remainder of the film. We previously proposed that this effect is due to interfacial pinning enhancement caused by stress and the resulting misfit dislocations at the heteroepitaxial interface. To test this hypothesis we have used a non-superconducting PrBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ (PrBCO) buffer layer to minimize the lattice mismatch with YBCO. We find that the PrBCO layers lower J_c of the 0.4 μm YBCO films in a predictable way, and that, if sufficiently thick (～0.5 μm), they eliminate interfacial enhancement altogether. Our interpretation of this result is that the defects responsible for interfacial enhancement of flux pinning originate at the bottom of the non-superconducting PrBCO layer, which screens the pinning centers from vortices in YBCO. This result demonstrates that the pinning enhancement arises from stress at the film–substrate interface.     

Low field irreversibility in twinned and untwinned YBaCuO crystals

An abrupt collapse of the irreversibility line is observed in both twinned and untwinned YBaCuO crystals within a critical regime. The exponent of the power law describing the irreversibility line H_irr changes from at high fields to larger values (between 1.5 and 2) below the collapse. We propose that the observed low field anomaly, which extends down to temperatures well below the irreversibility line, is associated with the thermal softening boundary which increases as T² and crosses H_irr shifting it to lower fields. Below this crossover, which occurs when the mean-square thermal displacement √ u² of the vortices exceeds coherence length ξ, the strength of the pinning is strongly reduced.     

Epitaxial superconducting δ-MoN films grown by a chemical solution method

The synthesis of pure δ-MoN with desired superconducting properties usually requires extreme conditions, such as high temperature and high pressure, which hinders its fundamental studies and applications. Herein, by using a chemical solution method, epitaxial δ-MoN thin films have been grown on c-cut Al(2)O(3) substrates at a temperature lower than 900 °C and an ambient pressure. The films are phase pure and show a T(c) of 13.0 K with a sharp transition. In addition, the films show a high critical field and excellent current carrying capabilities, which further prove the superior quality of these chemically prepared epitaxial thin films.