Search

The article discusses developments in high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) coated conductors. Topics covered include the challenge posed by the stringent control of process parameters during the production of substrate tape, the discovery of superconductors during the development of the coated conductor technology and the impact of the cost of the tapes on the application of coated conductors.

We report on the influence of random point defects introduced by 3 MeV proton irradiation on the vortex dynamics of 1.3 μm thick GdBa2Cu3Ox coated conductors. Thin films with different oxygen stoichiometry (6.7 < × < 7) were irradiated with 3 MeV proton (p) using a fluence of 2 × 1016 p cm−2. We find a direct correlation between the changes in Tc produced by oxygen content and damage by irradiation on the resulting vortex dynamics in the films. The analysis of the critical current densities Jc at low temperatures indicates that although irradiation produces smooth magnetic field dependences, the self-field values decrease systematically as Tc reduces. Moreover, the analysis of the relaxation of the persistent currents shows that the characteristic glassy exponent μ systematically decreases from 1.7 to 0.66 as Tc decreases from 93 to 55 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the influence of oxygen stoichiometry on the vortex creep mechanism of GdBa2Cu3Ox-coated conductors produced by co-evaporation. The oxygen stoichiometry of the films, x, was modified in a controlled way between 6.85 and 7, which resulted in systematic and reversible control of the superconducting critical temperature between about 78 and 93 K. The change in the oxygen stoichiometry produces a strong reduction in the self-field critical current densities Jc without significantly modifying the power-law dependence at intermediate magnetic fields, which indicates a negligible contribution of oxygen vacancies to the pinning. In addition, the characteristic glassy exponent μ shows a systematic diminution from about 1.63 at x = 7 to about 1.12 at x = 6.85. The results are compared with those obtained for proton- and oxygen-irradiated films, in which the vortex dynamics is determined by a balance between the improved pinning, originating from nanocluster inclusion, and the suppressed superconducting properties due to disorder in the nanoscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the critical current densities Jc and flux creep rates in a 2 μm thick SmBa2Cu3O7–δ coated conductor produced by co-evaporation. The sample presents strong pinning produced by correlated disorder (CD) (boundaries between growth islands, dislocations and twin boundaries) as well as random nanoparticles. Correlated pinning along the c-axis was evidenced due to the appearance of a large peak in the angular critical current, centered at H║c. The analysis of the critical current density Jc (with the magnetic field applied parallel (H║c) and at 45° of the c-axis (H║45°)) indicates that CD assists pinning throughout the temperature range. For all temperatures and at both angles the in-field dependence of Jc exhibits a power-law behavior. The contribution of CD drops when the field is rotated to intermediate angles between the c axis and a–b axis (i. e. H║45°), which derives in a reduction of the absolute Jc value and poorer in-field dependences. The flux creep rate depends on the angle and its values remain approximately constant within the power-law regime. For H║c and H║45° and for magnetic fields lower than 20 kOe, the flux relaxation presents characterizing glassy exponents μ = 1.70 and μ = 1.32, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the influence of random point defects introduced by 3 MeV proton irradiation (doses of 0.5 × 1016, 1 × 1016, 2 × 1016 and 6 × 1016 cm−2) on the vortex dynamics of co-evaporated 1.3 μm thick, GdBa2Cu3O7−δ coated conductors. Our results indicate that the inclusion of additional random point defects reduces the low field and enhances the in-field critical current densities Jc. The main in-field Jc enhancement takes place below 40 K, which is in agreement with the expectations for pinning by random point defects. In addition, our data show a slight though clear increase in flux creep rates as a function of irradiation fluence. Maley analysis indicates that this increment can be associated with a reduction in the exponent μ characterizing the glassy behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]