Evidence for strong flux pinning by small, dense nanoprecipitates in a Sm-doped YBa2Cu3O7−δ coated conductor

Abstract

About 17vol.% of ∼10nm sized (Y,Sm)2O3 precipitates have been developed in a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition grown Sm-doped YBa2Cu3O7−δ coated conductor. The precipitate spacing of ∼15nm suggests strong vortex-precipitate pinning interactions, which are evidenced by a shift in the peak in the flux pinning force curve, an enhanced irreversibility field exceeding 8T at 77K, and a lack of temperature scaling of the flux pinning force over the temperature range of 65–82K.