Abstract
In this study, superconducting samples of type GdBa2Cu3O7-δ added with x wt% (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) nanoferrites ZnFe2O4 and CoFe2O4 were prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction technique. The prepared samples were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) in order to determine the volume fraction and lattice parameters. The elemental contents of the prepared samples were determined using particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE). In addition, the oxygen-content of these samples was obtained using non-Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) at 3 MeV proton beam. It is found that the Oxygen-content of GdBa2Cu3O7-δ phase remains practically constant for low additions of both nanoferrites but it increases with high additions. The electrical resistivity of the prepared samples was measured by the conventional four-probe technique from room temperature down to the zero superconducting transition temperature (T0). An increase in the superconducting transition temperature Tc and the critical current density Jc is observed as x varies from 0.0 to 0.06 wt% of (ZnFe2O4)xGdBa2Cu3O7-δ, followed by a systematic decrease with increasing x. On the other hand, the Tc values for (CoFe2O4)xGdBa2Cu3O7-δ show a systematic decrease with x for both high and low additions while Jc is enhanced up to x = 0.01 wt% and decrease with further increase in x.
Highlights
Gd-123 is regarded as a promising material in the field of high temperature superconductors HTSCs
The lattice parameters a, b and c do not show systematic variation with respect to the pure sample. These results indicate clearly that lattice parameters a, b, and c are not affected by nanoferrite addition which implies that any substitution by the nanoferrites does not occur
This means that nanoferrites addition serves as interface between
Summary
Gd-123 is regarded as a promising material in the field of high temperature superconductors HTSCs. An effective way to overcome this problem is the enhancing of its flux pinning capabilities by nanoparticles addition [6]-[8] This enhancement of the flux pinning improves the critical current density [9]-[11] by causing a strong interaction between the flux line networks and the nanosized magnetic particles. Ion beam analysis (IBA) including RBS and PIXE has many contributions in the field of the high temperature superconductors. PIXE technique has the advantage that the cross section for X-ray production is large and the background contribution is low It is a highly sensitive method for the multi-elemental analysis and a large number of elements may be seen simultaneously. The variations of Tc and Jc with x for both nanoferrite additions are investigated and discussed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
