Comparison of the Microstructure and Flux Pinning Properties of Polycrystalline YBa2Cu3O7-d Containing Zn0.95Mn0.05O or Al2O3 Nanoparticles

Here we compare the microstructure and flux pinning properties of polycrystalline YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-d (Y-123 or YBCO) containing either Al 2 O 3 or Zn 0.95 Mn 0.05 O nanoparticles. Samples were prepared using a standard solid-state reaction process, and nanoparticles were added up to a concentration of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of low temperature physics Vol. 192; no. 1-2; pp. 100 - 116
Main Authors Al-Mohsin, R. A., Al-Otaibi, A. L., Almessiere, M. A., Al-badairy, H., Slimani, Y., Ben Azzouz, F.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer US 01.07.2018
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Aluminum oxide
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Crystal structure
Flux pinning
Low temperature physics
Magnetic Materials
Magnetic properties
Magnetism
Microstructure
Nanoparticles
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Pinning
Polycrystals
Scanning electron microscopy
Transmission electron microscopy
X-ray diffraction
YBCO superconductors
Nanoparticles
Flux pinning
Y-123 superconductor
Microstructure
Magnetic field
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Summary:Here we compare the microstructure and flux pinning properties of polycrystalline YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-d (Y-123 or YBCO) containing either Al 2 O 3 or Zn 0.95 Mn 0.05 O nanoparticles. Samples were prepared using a standard solid-state reaction process, and nanoparticles were added up to a concentration of 0.1 wt%. The crystal structure, microstructure, electrical and magnetic properties were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electrical resistivity and DC magnetization measurements, respectively. TEM observations showed that the addition of Zn 0.95 Mn 0.05 O resulted in a high density of fine twins and a variety of interacting microstructures, while Al 2 O 3 addition resulted in a high density of Al-rich nanoscale inhomogeneities embedded in the Y-123 matrix. Flux pinning forces were determined, and predominant pinning mechanisms in the prepared samples were proposed. We evaluated the superconducting properties of YBCO considering the effects of adding insulating or magnetic nanoparticles.
ISSN:0022-2291
1573-7357
DOI:10.1007/s10909-018-1895-2