Investigation of the Local Superconducting Properties at Grain Boundaries in High-Tc Superconductors

Abstract

Developing an atomic scale study of the structure-property relationships of grain boundaries in high-Tc superconductors is essential to understand their current dissipation mechanism and for incorporating these materials into viable devices. Thin YBa2Cu3O7-δ films have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on SrTiO3 symmetric bicrystals. Transport measurements in a magnetic field have been conducted across the grain boundaries through a wide bridge. The data obtained are consistent with microstructural observation in a VG Microscopes HB603 U and a VG HB501 UX dedicated STEM. Of particular interest in the study of high-Tc materials is the use of EELS, which can highlight the presence of non-superconducting regions through interpretation of the onset positions and finestructure (ELNES) of characteristic core-edge features.The V(I) curves recorded across a 24° boundary for several magnetic fields (fig. 1 - left) show an onset critical current density followed by a linear differential ohmic behavior which gives a negative intercept.