Electron Microscopy Imaging of Flux Pinning Defects in YBCO Superconductors

<p>High-temperature superconductors are of great interest because they can transport electrical current without loss. For real-world applications, the amount of current, known as the critical current Ic, that can be carried by superconducting wires is the key figure of merit. Large Ic values are necessary to off-set the higher cost of these wires. The factors that improve Ic (microstructure/performance relationship) in the state-of-the-art coated conductor wires based on YBa₂Cu₃O₇ (YBCO) are not fully understood. However, microstructural defects that immobilise (or pin) tubes of magnetic flux (known as vortices) inside the coated conductors are known to play a role in improving Ic. In this thesis, the vortex-defect interaction in YBCO superconductors was investigated with high-end transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques using two approaches. First, the effect of dysprosium (Dy) addition and oxygenation temperature on the microstructure and critical current were investigated in detail. Changing only the oxygenation temperature leads to many microstructural changes in pure YBCO coated conductors. It was found that Dy addition reduces the sensitivity of the YBCO to the oxygenation temperature, in particular it lowers the microstructural disorder while maintaining the formation of nanoparticles, which both contribute to the enhancement of Ic. In the second approach, two TEM based techniques (off-axis electron holography and Lorentz microscopy) were used to study the magnetic flux vortices. Vortex imaging was attempted with a TEM operated at 300 kV on both a YBCO crystal as well as a YBCO coated conductor. Many challenges were encountered including sample preparation, inhomogeneity, and geometry, in addition to the need to perform measurements at cryogenic temperatures. Although vortices were not able to be observed in the coated conductors, tentative observation of vortices in a YBCO crystal was made using Lorentz microscopy. Improvements for future electron holography experiments on YBCO at low voltage are suggested. This work represents a pioneering step towards directly imaging vortices in YBCO using more widely available microscopes with the aim of better understanding flux pinning to ultimately boost Ic in superconducting wires.</p>

Electron Microscopy Imaging of Flux Pinning Defects in YBCO Superconductors

<p>High-temperature superconductors are of great interest because they can transport electrical current without loss. For real-world applications, the amount of current, known as the critical current Ic, that can be carried by superconducting wires is the key figure of merit. Large Ic values are necessary to off-set the higher cost of these wires. The factors that improve Ic (microstructure/performance relationship) in the state-of-the-art coated conductor wires based on YBa₂Cu₃O₇ (YBCO) are not fully understood. However, microstructural defects that immobilise (or pin) tubes of magnetic flux (known as vortices) inside the coated conductors are known to play a role in improving Ic. In this thesis, the vortex-defect interaction in YBCO superconductors was investigated with high-end transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques using two approaches. First, the effect of dysprosium (Dy) addition and oxygenation temperature on the microstructure and critical current were investigated in detail. Changing only the oxygenation temperature leads to many microstructural changes in pure YBCO coated conductors. It was found that Dy addition reduces the sensitivity of the YBCO to the oxygenation temperature, in particular it lowers the microstructural disorder while maintaining the formation of nanoparticles, which both contribute to the enhancement of Ic. In the second approach, two TEM based techniques (off-axis electron holography and Lorentz microscopy) were used to study the magnetic flux vortices. Vortex imaging was attempted with a TEM operated at 300 kV on both a YBCO crystal as well as a YBCO coated conductor. Many challenges were encountered including sample preparation, inhomogeneity, and geometry, in addition to the need to perform measurements at cryogenic temperatures. Although vortices were not able to be observed in the coated conductors, tentative observation of vortices in a YBCO crystal was made using Lorentz microscopy. Improvements for future electron holography experiments on YBCO at low voltage are suggested. This work represents a pioneering step towards directly imaging vortices in YBCO using more widely available microscopes with the aim of better understanding flux pinning to ultimately boost Ic in superconducting wires.</p>

Attraction and repulsion forces in melt-textured and sintered YBCO-superconductors: a comparative study

In this paper, we measure the attraction (suspension) and repulsion (levitation) forces produced by the interaction between a permanent magnet and different bulk superconductors. The measurements of the interaction force HTS-PM were carried out with a relatively simple technique developed by us, which is reproducible, reliable and low cost. The obtained results were analyzed with the Bean’s critical-state model assuming a uniform magnetic field applied to the superconductor. Two superconducting samples of YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) prepared by solid-state reaction method and by the melt-textured growth method (MTG) were used. Both samples presented a different hysteresis behaviour in the field cooling (FC) and zero field cooling (ZFC) regimes. Levitation and suspension phenomena were observed in the MTG sample; however, the sintered sample (S) with Oxygen deficiencies (δ > 0.15) displayed a slight levitation force but did not show a suspension force, the latter one attributed to a more efficient magnetic flux pinning. Additionally, the critical current density of both samples was determined from the maximum gap of the force (ΔF) in the FC regime. The obtained values were between 43.00 A/cm2 and 2,758 A/cm2 for the sintered and MTG samples, respectively. These values show a remarkable difference between sintered and MTG samples like that observed from magnetization measurements, which indicate that attraction and repulsion force measurements could provide a rapid and reliable characterization method of polycrystalline superconducting samples.

Possible Ferromagnetism in YCuO System

polycrystalline CuxYyOz are made through solid state reaction. Ferromagnetism is found in this YCuO system at room temperature. The ferromagnetism quite probably originates from Cu2Y2O5 , the Copper Yttrium Oxide. The average magnetic moment per Cu2+ is estimated to be 0.04μB. Itinerant electron magnetism is a rational explaination for the observed ferromagnetism. The experiment shows that the excessive amount of Cu may lead more defects and further distortion in the lattice and decrease the exchange interaction. This reminds us that the Copper Yttrium Oxide is a substance not only should be avoided in fabricating YBCO superconductors but also should be considered as a potential substance of magnetic semiconductor.