Production and identification of flux-pinning defects by electron irradiation in YBa sub 2 Cu sub 3 O sub 7 minus x single crystals
- Department of Physics and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
- Centre de Spectrometrie Nucleaire et de Spectrometrie de Masse, Orsay (France)
An enhancement in {ital J}{sub {ital c}} of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}{ital x}} single crystals in a magnetic field is observed after irradiation with 1-MeV electrons. Typically, a factor-of-2 increase in {ital J}{sub {ital c}} is deduced from magnetic hysteresis loops at 10 K and 1 T with {bold H}{parallel}{ital c}. This enhancement is about 1/2 of that produced by proton and neutron irradiations under similar measurement conditions. {ital In} {ital situ} transmission-electron-microscopy studies found no visible defects induced by electron irradiation, which means that point defects or small clusters (of size {lt}2 nm) are responsible for the extra pinning. Annealing studies suggest that effective pinning centers for {bold H}{parallel}{ital c} do not include oxygen vacancies in the Cu-O chains. Based on calculations of cross sections for displacements on the different sublattices, and in conjunction with the results of a {ital J}{sub {ital c}} calculation by Kes, we suggest that the most likely pinning defect is the displacement of a Cu atom from the CuO{sub 2}-plane sites.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31-109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 7306323
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States), Vol. 45:18; ISSN 0163-1829
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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BARIUM OXIDES
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
COPPER OXIDES
YTTRIUM OXIDES
CRITICAL CURRENT
ELECTRON BEAMS
HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTORS
MAGNETIC FLUX
MEV RANGE 01-10
MONOCRYSTALS
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
BARIUM COMPOUNDS
BEAMS
CHALCOGENIDES
COPPER COMPOUNDS
CRYSTALS
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RADIATION EFFECTS
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TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS
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360207 - Ceramics
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