New chemically stable, nano-size artificial flux pinning centres in (RE)–Ba–Cu–O superconductors

Abstract

Chemically stable, nanoscale (<50 nm) Y2Ba4CuMOy (M = Nb, Ta, W, Mo, Zr, Hf, etc,) phase inclusions, which potentially form a new type of artificial pinning centre, have been introduced successfully for the first time into large, single grain (RE)–Ba–Cu–O bulk superconductors.