Effects of High Energy Electron Irradiation on a Yttrium Barium(2) Copper(3) Oxygen(7-delta) High Temperature Superconductor
Abstract
High quality, single crystalline, high-temperature superconductors were irradiated with 88.5 and 92.0 MeV electrons at various fluences to a maximum of 2.5+/- 0.5 x 10 to the 18th power electrons/sq cm. The samples were manufactured at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston and this experiment was in support of a much larger experiment investigating the effects of various irradiations on the critical current. By introducing artificial pinning centers, such as those produced by electron irradiation, in high-temperature superconductors, an applied magnetic flux can be effectively pinned and the current carrying capacity can be increased. By comparing the critical current density enhancement effects to the total atomic displacement damage, it is found that the enhancement depends heavily on the type and energy or radiation and on the beam direction with respect to the crystal. It was also found that a threshold defect-size for effective flux pinning exists. Cascade defects, 10-20 A and larger, are at least a thousand times more effective than point defects as pinning centers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA246895
Entities
People
- Sean M. Connors
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School