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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

C. Prouteau
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN37381-6031, USA Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL60607-7059, USA.
G. Duscher
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN37381-6031, USA Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL60607-7059, USA.
N. D. Browning
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL60607-7059, USA.
S. J. Pennycook
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN37381-6031, USA
D. Verebelyi
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN37381-6031, USA
D. K. Christen
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN37381-6031, USA
M. F. Chisholm
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN37381-6031, USA
D. P. Norton
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN37381-6031, USA
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Extract

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.

Type
Microscopy of Semiconducting and Superconducting Materials
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

References:

1Browning, N.D. & al. Interface Science 1, 309 (1993)Google Scholar
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4 We would like to thank P. D. Nellist for the image presented in fig. 2 and J. T. Luck for her help with sample preparation. This program is supported by NSF under grant no. DMR-9503877, and by the Division of Materials Sciences, U.S. DOE, under contract DE-AC05-96OR22464 with Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation, and by appointment to the ORNL Postdoctoral Research Program administered jointly by ORNL and ORISE.Google Scholar