0000000000719003
AUTHOR
B. Stäuble-pümpin
Influence of micro-structure in the low temperature critical currents of YBa2Cu3O7?? thin films
Epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7−δ films nucleate in c-axis oriented single-crystalline islands. The surface of the single-crystalline SrTiO3 substrates exhibit steps of one third of the YBa2Cu3O7−δ c-axis. These steps generate a mismatch in the island boundaries between the CuO2 superconducting blocks. We show that these defect regions are strong candidates for being the pinning centers responsible for the large critical currents observed in Laser Ablated and Sputtered thin films.
Origin of high critical currents in YBa2Cu3O7−δ superconducting thin films
Thin films of the high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7−δ exhibit both a large critical current (the superconducting current density generally lies between 1011 and 1012 A m−2 at 4.2 K in zero magnetic field) and a decrease in such currents with magnetic field that point to the importance of strong vortex pinning along extended defects1,2. But it has hitherto been unclear which types of defect—dislocations, grain boundaries, surface corrugations and anti-phase boundaries—are responsible. Here we make use of a sequential etching technique to address this question. We find that both edge and screw dislocations, which can be mapped quantitatively by this technique, are the linear defects t…
Critical currents and micro-structure in YBa2Cu3O7−δ thin films
In an attempt to clarify the origin of the large critical current densitiesJ c observed in Laser Ablated and Sputtered YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) thin films, we make a systematic study of the low temperatureJ c in samples carefully analysed using STM and AFM.J c (B) is determined from torque-magnetometry performed in ring-patterned thin films. Epitaxial YBCO films nucleate in c-axis oriented single-crystalline islands with sizes ranging between 200 and 700 nm. We show thatJ c can be mainly explained by vortex pinning localised in the island boundaries.