Pr Doped YBCO Films Produced by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Abstract

Pr doped YBa2Cu3O7-d targets with composition Y1-xPrxBa2Cu3O7-d where × = 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, and 0.1 were prepared from oxide powders and were used to deposit thin films by pulsed laser deposition using conditions previously optimized for pure YBa2Cu3O7-d. The Pr dopant was found to be dispersed throughout the film by secondary ion mass spectrometry and found to have an increased density of nanoparticles on the surface. The pinning force of the doped samples was found to decrease with increasing concentration of Pr; however, at 0.01% concentration the doped film displayed a significant enhancement over pure YBa2Cu3O7-d for nearly the full range of 0 – 9 T.