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Title: Substrate Surface Decoration With CeO2 Nanoparticles: An Effective Method for Improving Flux Pinning in YBa2Cu3O7 Films

Conference ·
OSTI ID:931682

We have demonstrated improved critical current density, J{sub c}, in YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-{delta}} (YBCO) films through a controlled study of substrate surface modifications with nano-sized second-phase pre-formed CeO{sub 2} particles. Nanoparticles were applied to single crystal SrTiO{sub 3} surfaces using suspension-based techniques prior to YBCO film growth. With the introduction of CeO{sub 2} nanoparticles, YBCO films showed more robust field dependence at intermediate fields (J{sub c} {infinity} B{sup -{infinity}}), where a smaller power law exponent of {alpha} {approx} 0.3 is obtained. The self-field J{sub c}(77 K, B{parallel}c) values of the YBCO films on reference and CeO{sub 2} modified substrates are 1.1 and 1.9 MA/cm2; and at 1 Tesla 0.1 and 0.52 MA/cm2, respectively. Consistent with this {alpha}-value, angular field dependent J{sub c} and transmission electron microscopy studies indicate the presence of c-axis aligned correlated defects in these modified samples.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
OE USDOE - Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
931682
Resource Relation:
Conference: Applied Superconductor Conference, Seattle, WA, USA, 20060827, 20060901
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English