Particle Irradiation Induced Defects in High Temperature Superconductors
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MRS Advances © 2019 Materials Research Society DOI: 10.1557/adv.2019.143
Particle Irradiation Induced Defects in High Temperature Superconductors 1
Prashanta Mani Niraula, 1Eiman Bokari, 1Shahid Iqbal, 1Lisa Paulius, 2Matthew Smylie, Ulrich Welp, 2Wai-Kwong Kwok, 1Asghar Kayani
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1
Department of Physics, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, United States.
2
Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, United States.
Abstract
We use irradiation with 50-MeV Cu-ions to create vortex pinning defects in high-temperature superconducting Y1Ba2Cu3O7-x coated conductors using a beam-rastering approach that allows for the uniform irradiation of large ample areas. Our samples contain barium zirconate nanorods as pre-existing vortex pinning defects. By irradiating the samples at angles of 0o, 15oand 30o from the crystallographic c-axis we explore the interplay between pre-existing and irradiation-induced pinning and find that irradiation at 30 o leads to a moderate enhancement of Jc at 5 K at high fields (greater than 2 Tesla). In contrast, J c was suppressed for all temperatures and fields for other angles of irradiation. Optimized particle irradiation procedures offer a way for improving the performance of high-temperature superconducting wires for use in high magnetic fields without the need for changing wire synthesis protocols.
INTRODUCTION In High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) such as Y 1Ba2Cu3O7-x (YBCO), the maximum lossless electrical current is limited by the onset of the motion of magnetic flux vortices, which dissipates energy. To maintain the zero-resistance state, the motion of vortices must be prevented. Currently, YBCO coated conductors (CCs) can be manufactured in lengths of hundreds of meters. The CCs are expected to have high and uniform critical current density (Jc) for applications in power grids, motors and magnets 1,2 . Non-superconducting defects such as self-assembled c-axis oriented barium zirconate (BZO) nanorods have proven effective in enhancing the critical current density of CCs
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. These nanostructures provide strong pinning centers for the vortices. In addition to the introduction of micro or nano size defects at the time of material synthesis, particle irradiation offers a powerful post-synthesis method to introduce defects in a controlled fashion that further enhances the Jc of CCs, especially in high magnetic fields. A uniform distribution of defects with precise density and morphology (point defects, linear tracks, clusters and collision cascades) can be generated by ion irradiation. Irradiation creates defects without changing the chemistry of the sample. This creates mixed-pinning landscapes that are very effective in vortex pinning 5. Particle irradiation induced defects have improved the performance of coated conductors 6–8. For
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