I–V characteristics of YBCO thin films with a periodic array of Ni dots

Abstract

Enhancing the pinning force in cuprates can be achieved by externally introduced magnetic dots. We have used a novel nanochannel glass technique to create metal replica masks with sub-micron size holes that have a triangular lattice pattern. With this replica mask, magnetic dots with a periodic array were deposited onto the surface of YBCO thin films by a simple deposition. The I–V characteristics of an YBCO thin film strip with a uniform Ni dots have been measured. They were compared with that of a bare YBCO strip without any magnetic dots. The results show that as the magnetic field strength increases the critical current value of the strip with the magnetic dots reduces with a much slower pace in comparison with the values obtained from the bare sample.