Improvement in Jc performance below liquid nitrogen temperature for SmBa2Cu3Oy superconducting films with BaHfO3 nano-rods controlled by low-temperature growth

Abstract

For use in high-magnetic-field coil-based applications, the critical current density (Jc) of REBa2Cu3Oy (REBCO, where RE = rare earth) coated conductors must be isotropically improved, with respect to the direction of the magnetic field; these improvements must be realized at the operating conditions of these applications. In this study, improvement of the Jc for various applied directions of magnetic field was achieved by controlling the morphology of the BaHfO3 (BHO) nano-rods in a SmBCO film. We fabricated the 3.0 vol. % BHO-doped SmBCO film at a low growth temperature of 720 °C, by using a seed layer technique (Ts = 720 °C film). The low-temperature growth resulted in a morphological change in the BHO nano-rods. In fact, a high number density of (3.1 ± 0.1) × 103 μm−2 of small (diameter: 4 ± 1 nm), discontinuous nano-rods that grew in various directions, was obtained. In Jc measurements, the Jc of the Ts = 720 °C film in all directions of the applied magnetic field was higher than that of the non-doped SmBCO film. The Jcmin (6.4 MA/cm2) of the former was more than 6 times higher than that (1.0 MA/cm2) of the latter at 40 K, under 3 T. The aforementioned results indicated that the discontinuous BHO nano-rods, which occurred with a high number density, exerted a 3D-like flux pinning at the measurement conditions considered. Moreover, at 4.2 K and under 17 T, a flux pinning force density of 1.6 TN/m3 was realized; this value was comparable to the highest value recorded, to date.

J e (4.2 K, 31.2 T) beyond 1 kA/mm2 of a ~3.2 μm thick, 20 mol% Zr-added MOCVD REBCO coated conductor

“…Recently, BaHfO 3 (BHO) nanorods have attracted more attention in pulsed laser deposited (PLD) REBCO films. High F p  ∼ 1.6 TN/m 3 , comparable to our 15% Zr-added REBCO films, in a ~0.26 μm thick SmBa 2 Cu 3 O y film, and F p  ~ 1.2 TN/m 3 in a ~3.3 μm thick EuBa 2 Cu 3 O y film have been achieved, via BaHO nanorod incorporation 23, 25 .…”

Engineering current density over 5 kA mm−2 at 4.2 K, 14 T in thick film REBCO tapes

“…Pinning centers such as RE 2 O 3 and BMO nanocolumns (M is metal) have been shown to enhance J c over a wide range of temperatures (e.g., [26][27][28][29][30]). The BMO nanocolumns provide effective vortex pinning along c-axis and at low temperatures, the strain induced by lattice mismatch between BZO and REBCO matrix results in a high density of weak point pins raising J c at all magnetic field directions [31][32][33][34][35].…”

“…A remarkably high pinning force density (F p ) of 1.7 T N m −3 has been attained at 4.2 K, 20 T in 0.9 μm thick 15 mol% Zr added REBCO film processed using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) by our group [31]. Recently, BaHfO 3 (BHO)-doped 0.26 μm SmBa 2 Cu 3 O y and 0.94 μm EuBa 2 Cu 3 O y films have been shown to exhibit a comparable F p of 1.6-1.7 T N m −3 at 4.2 K, 15 T. [32,33].…”

Structural and superconducting characteristics of YBa2Cu3O7 films grown by fluorine-free metal-organic deposition route

“…Consequently, tailoring the microstructure by precise control of the nucleation and growth mechanism in REBCO films recently became a hot topic in the field. Several factors could strongly affect these processes, such as film/precursor composition [11][12][13], interface properties [14,15], deposition techniques and processing parameters [16][17][18].…”