Title
Temporal Evolution of Defects and Related Electric Properties in He-Irradiated YBa2Cu3O7−δ Thin Films
Author
Sandra Keppert
Institute of Applied Physics, Johannes Kepler University Linz
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Abstract
Thin films of the superconductor YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) were modified by low-energy light-ion irradiation employing collimated or focused He+ beams, and the long-term stability of irradiation-induced defects was investigated. For films irradiated with collimated beams, the resistance was measured in situ during and after irradiation and analyzed using a phenomenological model. The formation and stability of irradiation-induced defects are highly influenced by temperature. Thermal annealing experiments conducted in an Ar atmosphere at various temperatures demonstrated a decrease in resistivity and allowed us to determine diffusion coefficients and the activation energy Δ𝐸=(0.31±0.03) eV for diffusive oxygen rearrangement within the YBCO unit cell basal plane. Additionally, thin YBCO films, nanostructured by focused He+-beam irradiation into vortex pinning arrays, displayed significant commensurability effects in magnetic fields. Despite the strong modulation of defect densities in these pinning arrays, oxygen diffusion during room-temperature annealing over almost six years did not compromise the signatures of vortex matching, which remained precisely at their magnetic fields predicted by the pattern geometry. Moreover, the critical current increased substantially within the entire magnetic field range after long-term storage in dry air. These findings underscore the potential of ion irradiation in tailoring the superconducting properties of thin YBCO films.
Keywords
cuprate superconductorhelium-ion irradiationlong-term stabilityirradiation damage healingvortex pinningroom-temperature annealingdiffusion coefficientsactivation energycommensurability effects
Object type
Language
English [eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2080704
Appeared in
Title
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume
25
Issue
14
ISSN
1422-0067
Issued
2024
Publisher
MDPI AG
Date issued
2024
Access rights
Rights statement
© 2024 by the authors

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