Processing conditions for (Nd, Eu, Gd)-Ba-Cu-O ternary bulk superconductors

Abstract(Nd, Eu, Gd)-Ba-Cu-O ternary bulk superconductors have high potential for practical applications since they exhibit very high critical current densities and thus high field trapping capabilities. (Nd, Eu, Gd)-Ba-Cu-O superconductors are synthesized in a reduced oxygen atmosphere, which requires a control of oxygen partial pressure and needs a special device for hot seeding. In the present study, for simplicity, we employed Ar gas flow into the furnace to control oxygen partial pressure instead of flowing oxygen-controlled gas. Hence, it was necessary to modify the melt processing conditions to produce a single domain. Through the optimization of seeding temperature and cooling rate, we obtained the processing conditions, in which a single domain bulk (Nd, Eu, Gd)-Ba-Cu-O of 20mm diameter could be synthesized

Re-appearance of antiferromagnetic ordering with Zn and Ni substitution in La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4

The effects of nonmagnetic Zn and magnetic Ni substitution for Cu site on magnetism are studied by measurements of uniform magnetic susceptibility for lightly doped La_{2-x}Sr_xCu_{1-z}M_zO_4 (M=Zn or Ni) polycrystalline samples. For the parent x=0, Zn doping suppresses the N\'{e}el temperature T_N whereas Ni doping hardly changes T_N up to z=0.3. For the lightly doped samples with T_N~0, the Ni doping recovers T_N. For the superconducting samples, the Ni doping induces the superconductivity-to-antiferromagnetic transition (or crossover). All the heavily Ni doped samples indicate a spin glass behavior at \~15 K.Comment: 2 pages including 3 figures, to be published in Physica C (LT23, Hiroshima 2002

Cu Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Study of Site-Disorder and Chemical Pressure Effects on Y(Ba1-xSrx)2Cu4O8

We report a zero-field Cu nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) study on the effects of nonmagnetic Sr substitution for high-Tc superconductors, Y(Ba1-xSrx)2Cu4O8 (Tc=82-80 K for x=0-0.4), using a spin-echo technique. The site-disordering and chemical pressure effects associated with doping Sr were observed in the broadened, shifted Cu NQR spectra. Nevertheless, the site disorder did not significantly affect the homogeneity of Cu electron spin dynamics, in contrast to the in-plane impurity. The peak shift of Cu NQR spectrum due to Sr was different between the chain- and the plane-Cu sites, more remarkably than those under a hydrostatic physical pressure, suggesting anisotropic or nonuniform local structural strains. The small decrease of Tc due to Sr can be traced back to either a cancellation effect on Tc between the disorder and the pressure, or an anisotropic or nonuniform chemical pressure effect on Tc.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Doping Effect of Nano-Diamond on Superconductivity and Flux Pinning in MgB2

Doping effect of diamond nanoparticles on the superconducting properties of MgB2 bulk material has been studied. It is found that the superconducting transition temperature Tc of MgB2 is suppressed by the diamond-doping, however, the irreversibility field Hirr and the critical current density Jc are systematically enhanced. Microstructural analysis shows that the diamond-doped MgB2 superconductor consists of tightly-packed MgB2 nano-grains (~50-100 nm) with highly-dispersed and uniformly-distributed diamond nanoparticles (~10-20 nm) inside the grains. High density of dislocations and diamond nanoparticles may take the responsibility for the enhanced flux pinning in the diamond-doped MgB2.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Ni-substituted sites and the effect on Cu electron spin dynamics of YBa2Cu{3-x}NixO{7-\delta}

We report Cu nuclear quadrupole resonance experiment on magnetic impurity Ni-substituted YBa$_2$Cu$_{3-x}$Ni$_x$O$_{7-\delta}$. The distribution of Ni-substituted sites and its effect on the Cu electron spin dynamics are investigated. Two samples with the same Ni concentration $x$=0.10 and nearly the same oxygen content but different $T_c$'s were prepared: One is an as-synthesized sample (7-$\delta$=6.93) in air ($T_c$$\approx 80 K$), and the other is a quenched one (7-$\delta$=6.92) in a reduced oxygen atmosphere ($T_c$$\approx 70 K$). The plane-site $^{63}$Cu(2) nuclear spin-lattice relaxation for the quenched sample was faster than that for the as-synthesized sample, in contrast to the $^{63}$Cu(1) relaxation that was faster for the as-synthesized sample. This indicates that the density of plane-site Ni(2) is higher in the quenched sample, contrary to the chain-site Ni(1) density which is lower in the quenched sample. From the analysis in terms of the Ni-induced nuclear spin-lattice relaxation, we suggest that the primary origin of suppression of $T_c$ is associated with nonmagnetic depairing effect of the plane-site Ni(2).Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Nonlinear microwave switching response of BSCCO single crystals

Measurements of the surface impedance in Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8+{delta}} single crystal with microwave currents flowing along the {cflx c} axis show clear evidence of a step-like nonlinearity. The surface resistance switches between apparently quantized levels for microwave field strength changes < 1 mG. This nonlinear response can arise from the presence of intrinsic Josephson junctions along the {cflx c} axis of these samples driven by the microwave current