Equilibrium magnetic properties of the Fe-doped HTSC YBaCuO

Abstract

For the polycrystalline high-temperature superconductor Y1 –xFexBa2Cu3Oy (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.05), where a significant increase in the intragrain critical current density has recently been found, the effect of iron doping on the equilibrium magnetic characteristics is studied. The field dependences of the magnetization are measured in the temperature range of 40–85 K and in the field range up to 60 kOe with increasing and decreasing fields. The temperature dependences of the London penetration depth λab, the superconducting carrier density ns, and the thermodynamic critical field Hc are determined from an analysis of the middle lines of the magnetic hysteresis loop. It is shown that the thermodynamic properties of Fe substituted samples do not change at x ≤ 0.03. At a higher Fe content, a slight decrease in Hc and the superconducting transition temperature is observed. However, changes in the condensation energy turn out to be much smaller than values expected due to an increase in the density of effective pinning centres created by substitutional atoms in both the yttrium and copper sublattices. It is concluded that the pinning regions in chain CuO planes near substituted Cu sites are two-dimensional in nature and do not affect the superconducting pairing in CuO2 planes. Another possible pinning mechanism, which does not affect Hc, is the interaction of vortices with the magnetic moments of Fe3+ ions.