Abstract
The use of combined atomic substitution and phase decomposition is shown to achieve substantial enhancement of flux pinning in Y–Ba-Cu–O ceramics. The substituent is chosen to provide a high density of nucleation sites for decomposition and at the same time enhancing Tc in the resulting composite superconductor. Bulk YBa2Cu4O8 (124) with 2.5% La substituted for Ba is decomposed by a short anneal beyond the stability boundary for YBa2Cu3O7 (123) at low oxygen pressure. The product, principally La-substituted 123 <m1;37p>with stacking faults and precipitates of CuO in the grain boundaries, exhibits a 17-fold enhancement in intragrain Jc at 77 K and 0.75 Tesla over unprocessed 123, rising to 50-fold at 85 K. Magnetization Jc exceeds 104 A/cm2 at 0.75 Tesla for temperatures up to 87 K, the highest so far observed for a superconductor.
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