Self-assembled oxide nanopillars in epitaxial BaFe2As2 thin films for vortex pinning
Abstract
We report the structure and chemistry of the self-assembled oxide nanopillars that form in superconducting Co-doped BaFe2As2 thin film grown by pulsed laser deposition. The oxide nanopillars consist of a BaFeO2 phase, form epitaxially on the SrTiO3 template, and grow coherently with the BaFe2As2 film. The nanopillars are square with a uniform size of 4–5 nm, which is close to twice the superconducting coherence length. Despite a volume content of ∼5%, the nanopillars do not degrade the structural quality of the BaFe2As2 matrix. Indeed the nanopillars provide exceptionally strong vortex pinning and high critical current density due to the very close correlation of pillar and vortex core diameters.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 24, 2011
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.3532107
Entities
People
- Chad M. Folkman
- Chang-Beom Eom
- Chiara Tarantini
- Christopher T. Nelson
- Chung Wung Bark
- David C. Larbalestier
- Eric E. Hellstrom
- Jeremy D. Weiss
- Jianyi Jiang
- Sanghan Lee
- Seung-hyub Baek
- Xiaoqing Pan
- Yi Zhang
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Florida State University
- Nanjing University
- National Science Foundation
- United States Department of Energy
- University of Michigan
- University of Wisconsin–Madison