Progress in Superconductivity
The Korean Superconductivity Society (KSS)
- Semi Annual
- /
- 1229-4764(pISSN)
Domain
- Physics > Condensed Matter Physics
Aim & Scope
'Progress in Superconductivity' 는 초전도체의 뭉성 및 초전도 이론, 그리고 초전도체의 응용과 관련된 모든 분야의 독창적 논문과 리뷰 논문을 출판하고자 만들어진 한국초전도학회의 전문학술지이다. 'Progress in Superconductivity'는 초전도체와 관련된 연구를 수행하는 물리학자, 화학자, 재료공학자 및 전기, 전자공학자와 기술자들에게 초전도체와 관련된 모든 분야에 대한 토론의 장을 제공한다.
KSCIVolume 3 Issue 1
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Interface-engineered junctions with
$YbBa_2$ $Cu_3$ $O_{7}$ as the counter electrode were demonstrated. The junctions exhibited excellent Josephson characteristics with a Josephson critical current ($I_{c}$ ) ranging from 0.1 mA to 8 mA and a magnetic field modulation of the$I_{c}$ exceeding 80% at 4.2 K while maintaining complete c-axis orientation of the counter-electrode layer. The$ 1\sigma$ spreads in$I_{c}$ for junctions with an average$I_{c}$ of 1-2 mA were 5-8% for 16 junctions within a chip, and 9.3% for a 100-junction array. Our dI/dV measurements suggest that a theoretical approach taking into account both a highly transparent barrier and the proximity effect is required to fully understand the Junction characteristics.ristics. -
Our experimental research focuses on manipulating pinning deflects to alter the phase diagram of vortex matter, creating new vortex phases. Vortex matter offers a unique opportunity for creating and studying these novel phase transitions through precise control of thermal, pinning and elastic energies. The vortex melting transition in untwinned YB
$a_2$ C$u_3$ $O_{7-}$ $\delta$ / crystals is investigated in the presence of disorder induced by particle irradiation. We focus on the low disorder regime, where a glassy state and a lattice state can be realized in the same phase diagram. We follow the evolution of the first order vortex melting transition line into a continuous transition line as disorder is increased by irradiation. The transformation is marked by an upward shift in the lower critical point on the melting line. With columnar deflects induced by heavy ion irradiation, we find a second order Bose glass transition line separating the vortex liquid from a Bose glass below the lower critical point. Furthermore, we find an upper threshold of columnar defect concentration beyond which the lower critical point and the first order melting line disappear together. With point deflect clusters induced by proton irradiation, we find evidence for a continuous thermodynamic transition below the lower critical point.. -
We have measured the reflectivity of superconducting infinite-layer compounds
$Sr_{0.9}$ $Ln_{0.1}$ Cu$O_2$ (Ln=La, Gd, Sm) with$T_{c}$ : 39 K using a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer. We have identified the optical phonon modes from their infrared reflectivity and conductivity spectra and have proposed possible displacement patterns. The La- and the Gd-doped compounds exhibited only four ($2A_{2u}$ $+2E_{u}$ ) out of the five ($2A_{2u}$ $3E_{u}$ ) infrared-active phonons predicted by a group theoretical analysis whereas the Sm-doped compound exhibited all five modes. For the La-doped sample, we investigated the temperature dependence of the optical response functions in a wide temperature range of 7 - 300 K. In FIR region, the reflectivity is apparently enhanced below ~120$cm^{-1}$ as temperature decreases across$T_{c}$ . The value of$2 $\Delta$ /k_{B}$$T_{c}$ is about 4.5, which is consistent with maximum gap value of d-wave$high- T_{c}$ cuprates.> c/ cuprates.uprates.s. -
Practical implementation of the SFQ technology in most application requires more than single-chip-level circuit complexity. Multiple chips have to be integrated with a technology that is reliable at cryogenic temperatures and supports an inter-chip data transmission speed of tens of GHz. In this work, we have studied two basic issues in building large RSFQ circuits. The first is the reliable inter-chip SFQ pulse transfer technique using Multi-Chip-Module (MCM) technology. By noting that the energy contained in an SFQ pulse is less than an attojoule, it is not very surprising that the direct transmission of a single SFQ pulse through MCM solder bump connectors can be difficult and an innovative technique is needed. The second is the recycling of the bias currents. Since RSFQ circuits are dc current biased the large RSFQ circuits need serial biasing to reduce the total amount of current input to the circuit.
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We have investigated the mixed-state magnetoresistance of high quality c-axis-oriented MgB2 thin film for magnetic field from 0.5 T to 5.0 T, applied normal to ab-plane. The temperature dependence of magnetoresistance was well described by vortex glass and fluctuation theories for different temperature regimes. We observed glassy exponent of v(z-1)~3 and upper critical field of
$H_{c2}$ (0)~35 T, which is consistent with previous data obtained from direct$H_{c2}$ (0) measurements. Interestingly, the thermally activated flux flow region was observed to be very narrow, suggesting that the pinning strength of this compound is very strong. This finding is closely related to the recent reports that the bulk pinning is dominant in$MgB_2$ and the critical current density of$MgB_2$ thin film is very high, comparable to that of cuprate superconductor. The present results further suggest that$MgB_2$ is beneficial to technical applications.ons. -
Doh, Yong-Joo;Chang, Hyun-Sik;Chang, Dong-In;Lee, Hu-Jong;Kim, Jinhee;Kim, Kyu-Tae;Lee, Woo;Choy, Jin-Ho 28
We studied the flux-flow current-voltage characteristics of microwave-generated fluxons formed in serially stacked intrinsic Josephson junctions fabricated on$ HgI_2$ -intercalated$Bi_2$ $Sr_2$ $CaCu_2$ O/8+x/(Bi2212) single crystals. With increasing the irradiation power of 73$\square$ 76 GHz microwave, the supercurrent branch became resistive and split into multiple sub -branches. Each sub-branch represented a specific mode of collective motion of Josephson fluxons. We also observed similar branch splitting In a mesa prepared on an underdoped Bi2212 single crystal in a static magnetic field. -
Jung, J. H.;Lee, H. J.;Kim, K. W.;Kim, M. W.;Noh, T. W.;Wang, Y. J.;Kang, W. N.;Jung, C. U.;Lee, Sung-Ik 31
We investigated the temperature and magnetic field dependent optical properties of a$ MgB_2$ thin film in the far-infrared region. In the superconducting state, i.e. 5 K, we obtained the values of superconducting gap$2\Delta$ ~ 5.2 meV and$2\Delta$ $_{k}$ $B/T_{c}$ ~1.8. Although the value of$ 2\Delta$ $B/T_{c}$ was nearly half of the BCS value, the$2\Delta$ seemed to follow the temperature dependence of the BCS formula. Under the magnetic field (H), the superconducting state became suppressed. Interestingly, we found that the normal state area fraction abruptly increased at low field but slowly increased at high field. It did not follow the H-dependences predicted for a s-wave superconductor (i.e. a linear dependence) nor for a s-wave one (i.e.$H^{1}$ 2/ dependence). We discussed the complex gap nature of$MgB_2$ in comparison with two gap and anisotropic s-wave scenarios.ios. -
We have studied vortex dynamics in
$ Bi_2$ $Sr_2$ $CaCu_2$O $_{8}$ single crystals of unirradiated and irradiated samples by using 100$\times$ $100\mu\textrm{m}^2$ Hall sensor. Doses equivalent magnetic fields are 20 G, 100 G and 1 kG. In the magnetization measurement, a second magnetization peak (SMP) was observed in unirradiated, 20 G dose and 100 G dose samples in contrast to 1 kG dose sample. In the unirradiated sample, the SMP was observed in the range of 18 K ~ 35 K and the amplitude of the SMP decreased with increasing temperature. With increase of the irradiation dose, temperature region and sharpness of the SMP were reduced. In the magnetic relaxation measurement, we observed that the normalized relaxation rate S decreased with increasing the irradiation dose. Our results suggest that the vortex dynamics is not greatly affected by low-density columnar defects.s. -
We report the current transport properties of a normal metal/organic conductor/ superconductor tunnel junction as a novel high-
$T_{c}$ superconducting three terminal device. The organic copper (II) phthalocyanine (Cu-Pc) layer was used far a polaronic quasiparticle (QP) injector. The injection of polaronic QP from the Cu-Pc interlayer into a superconductor$Bi_2$ $Sr_2$ $CaCu_2$ $O_{8+}$ $\delta$ /(BSCCO) thin film generated a substantially larger nonequilibrium effect as compared to the normal QP injection current. The tunneling spectroscopy of an Au/cu-PC/BSCCO junction exhibited a zero bias conductance peak which may be due to Andreev reflection at a Cu-Pc/d-wave superconductor junction.n.. -
We have fabricated
$MgB_2$ thin films on (1 1 02)$ A1_2$ $O_3$ substrates by using a two-step method. Amorphous B thin films were deposited by a pulsed laser deposition technique and sintered in Mg vapor at various temperatures from 800 to$950^{\circ}C$ . Superconducting properties of the thin films were investigated by temperature dependences of magnetization and critical current density. Structural studies were carried out by an x-ray diffraction and a scanning electron microscope. The films fabricated at$900^{\circ}C$ showed the highest transition temperature of 39 K and critical current density of ~$10^{7}$ A/$\textrm{cm}^2$ at 15 K. -
Josephson junction arrays were fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering, self-aligning and reactive ion etching technique. The Al native oxide, formed by thermal oxidation, was used as the tunneling barrier of Nb/
$Al-A1_2$ $O_3$ Nb trilayer. The arrays have 2,000 Josephson junctions with the area of$14\mu\textrm{m}$ $\times$ $46\mu\textrm{m}$ . The gap voltages were in the range of 2.5 ~2.6 mV and the spread of critical current was$\pm$ 11~14%. When operated at 70~94 ㎓, the arrays generated zero-crossing steps up to 2.1~2.4 V. To improve transmission of microwave power and prevent diffusion of oxygen into Nb ground-plane while depositing$SiO_2$ dielectric, we applied a plasma nitridation process to the Nb ground-plane. The microwave power was well propagated in Josephson junction arrays with nitridation. The difference in microwave transmission 7an be interpreted by the surface impedance change depending on nitridation. -
We have constructed a multi-channel SQUID magnetometer system for localization and classification of magnetic targets. Ten SQUID magnetometers were arranged to measure 5 independent components of 3
$\times$ 3 magnetic field gradient tensor. To get gradient from the difference of magnetic field measurements, we carefully balanced magnetometers. SQUIDs with slotted washer were used for operation in an unshielded laboratory environment, and noise characteristic in the laboratory was measured. With the multi-channel SQUID magnetometer system, we have successfully traced the motion of a bar magnet moving around it at a distance of about 1 m. In the urban environment, the drift of uniform magnetic field due to the irregular motion of a large magnetic body at distance and earth field causes an error in the position calculation, and this results in the distortion of the calculated trajectory. In this paper, we present the architecture and the performance of the system. -
We have studied properties of step-edge Junction prepared with crystal orientation of sapphire substrate. The Step on sapphire substrates fabricated by conventional photolithography method and Ar ion milling method.
$CeO_2$ buffer layer and in-situ YBCO thin film were deposited on the stepped sapphire substrates by a pulsed laser deposition method with the predetermined optimized condition. The step angle was centre fled low angle of about$25^{\circ}$ . The YBCO film thickness was varied to obtain various thickness ratios of the film to the step height in a range from 0.7 to 1.2. I-V curves of junction were showed RSJ-behavior, double junction structure, and hysteresis due to the crystal orientation of substrate. -
We measured the transport properties of
$ YBa_2$ $Cu_3$ $O_{x}$ ramp-edge junction fabricated with interface-engineered barrier. The current-voltage characteristics show a typical resistively-shunted junction like behavior Voltage noise measurement revealed that the main source of the 1/f noise is the critical current and resistance fluctuations. The analysis of the noise data showed that the critical current fluctuations increase with temperature, whereas the resistance fluctuations are almost constant, and both fluctuations are almost correlated. The smaller magnitude of the critical current and resistance fluctuations seems to result from the columnar-deflects.s. -
We report the spin injection and transport properties of three terminal devices of Co/Au/
$YBa_2$ $Cu_3$ $O_{y}$ (F/N/S) tunnel junctions by injection of spin-polarized quaiparticles using a cobalt ferromagnetic injector. The observed current gain depends on the thickness of Au interlayer and is directly related to the nonequilibrium magnetization due to spin relaxation effects. The tunnel characteristic of a F/N/S tunnel junctions exhibited a zero bias conductance peak (ZBCP). The suppression of the ZBCP was observed due to the suppression of Andreev reflection at the interface, which is due to the spin scattering processes at the interface between a ferromagnetic and a d-wave superconductor.r. -
We have fabricated a high-Tc superconductive transistor with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) gate electrode on MgO bicrystal Josephson junction by spin-coating method. The PVDF ferroelectric film is found to be suitable fur a gate electrode of the superconductive transistor since it has not only small leakage current but also high dieletric constant at low temperature. For the application of superconducting-FET, we investigated millimeter wave properties (60 GHz band) of the Josephson junction with PVDF gate electrode.
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The spatial resolution of
$high-T_{c}$ scanning SQUID microscope is limited by the washer size of SQUID and the gap distance between SQUID sensor and the sample. In this work, we tried to improve the spatial resolution of scanning SQUID microscope by reducing the size of SQUID sensor fabricated with$YBa_2$ $Cu_3$ $O_{7}$ thin film. Outer dimensions of the SQUiDs we tested are 24$\mu\textrm{m}$ $\times$ $ 28\mu\textrm{m}$ ,$12 \mu\textrm{m}$ $\times$ $16\mu\textrm{m}$ ,$12\mu\textrm{m}$ x$12\mu\textrm{m}$ ,$10 \mu\textrm{m}$ $\times$ $10 \mu\textrm{m}$ each. To operate them in the flux-locked loop scheme, we used a direct-coupled electronics instead of using conventional electronics involving a modulation scheme. Since the direct-coupled feedback scheme does not require modulation current adjustment that poses as a practical difficulty in the SQUID operation in modulation-scheme, the direct feedback operation is rather simpler than the conventional modulation method. The resulting noise features were dominated by the noise of preamp in FLL electronics except that of the largest SQUID. The noise levels of SQUIDs are expected below 1$\times$ $10^{-5}$ $\Phi_{0}$ H$z^{1}$ 2/ (at 300 Hz), that is a typical noise level for SQUID made of$YBa_2$ C$u_3$ $O_{7}$ thin film. The data acquisition and motion-controlling parts were also improved, resulting in faster data acquisition rate and less vibration of the system.m. -
We have fabricated a single flux quantum 4-stage shift register with interface-controlled
$Y_1$ $Ba_2$ $Cu_3$ $O_{7-x}$ (YBCO) Josephson junction. The YBCO Josephson junctions showed RSJ-like current-voltage(I-V) curves at temperatures 45~80K. We tested load and shift operation of shift register with binary data sequences “1000”, “1010”, “1011”, and “1111” at 58K. For all the binary data sequences, the shift register operated successfully. By operating the circuit with proper current pulses, we observed no errors during at least 12 hours operation for all the data sequences.s. -
We designed a high temperature superconducting rapid single flux quantum(RSFQ) T flip-flop(TFF) circuit using Xic and WRspice. According to the optimized circuit parameters, we fabricated the TFF circuit with
$Y_1$ $Ba_2$ Cu$_3$ $O_{7-x}$ (YBCO) interface-controlled Josephson junctions. The whole circuit was comprised of five epitaxial layers including YBCO ground plane. The interface-controlled Josephson junction was fabricated with natural junction barrier that was formed by interface-treatment process. In addition, we report second design for a new flip-flop without ground palne.e. -
By varying fabricating process, precursor powders with different initial conditions were prepared. Subsequently, Bi-2223/Ag tapes were made through these powders. The effects of precursor powders on the phase evolution and Jr properties of Bi-2223/Ag tapes were studied along with several thermomechanical cycles. Our results showed that the initial conditions of precursor powders could strongly influence the phase formation rate and
$J_{c}$ value in final tapes. The factors of precursor powders that influence the phase formation and$J_{c}$ of Bi-2223/Ag tapes must be studied and optimized in combination.ion. -
Recently, NiO films have been studied as a buffer layer to fabricate the superconductor with preferred orientation and as a diffusion barrier to prevent the reaction between superconductor and textured nickel substrate . We fabricated NiO films on textured Ni substrate by thermal oxidation with various variables of temperature, oxidation time, atmosphere, and cooling rate. We investigated the alignment of NiO films by XRD and pole figure and the microstructures by SEM. (200) <001> alignment of NiO film was observed at the oxidation condition of
$1200^{\circ}C$ far 10min and slow cooling in O2 atmosphere. During the process in Ar atmosphere, we could also observe the thermal faceting which affects the alignment of NiO alms on Ni substrate. -
We have conducted two runs of interlaboratory comparison on Ag-sheathed Bi-2223 tapes to evaluate the level of measurement techniques for the critical current measurement. Two classes of specimens were prepared for parallel and serial routings and sent to four participating laboratories. The critical currents of specimens were measured at 77 K in zero magnetic field. In the first comparison, we used twenty different Bi-2223 tapes as specimens for comparison and participating laboratories measured the specimens using their own instruments and procedures. As a result, the scattering of data on the first comparison showed -3.0% to +l2.2% for the parallel routing and -0.7% to +l5.1% for the serial routing. Major sources of these variations were attributed to different measurement techniques. Thus, the second comparison of measurement was done on the same specimens under specified measurement conditions, particularly in terms of cooling procedure and sweep rate of the test current. The variations for the second comparison were decreased -3.1% to +3.2% far the parallel routing and -1.8% to +7.7% fur the serial routing.
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Since the strand-to-strand type joint far CICC (Cable-In-Conduit Conductor) is small in size and has low DC resistance, it is expected to be useful type fur a superconducting magnet system which had a compact structure like the KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) coil system. The DC resistance is changed according to the distribution patterns of strands in cables connected together in the joint. A commercial code was used for the calculation of the DC resistance. With the decrease of outer diameter of the Joint, Which means the increase of strand volume fraction in the joint, the calculated DC resistance decrease rapidly and non-lineally. The variation of resistance depends mainly on the volume fraction of solder which has higher resistivity than copper. The resistance decrease inversely with the increase of the length of the joint. The resistance increase with increase of number of triplets in each stack contacted with that of another terminal cable. In case of the strand-to-strand joint that has 62mm of outer diameter, 52mm of inner diameter, 100mm of overlap length, and four triplets in each stack, the calculated DC resistance is less than 1 n-Ohm.
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Short-length and long-length Ni tapes were fabricated by powder processing, cold rolling and recrystallizatioon heat treatment. In the case of the short-length Ni tape, both in-plane and out-of-plane texture were less than
$10^{\circ}$ . In the case of the long-length Ni tape, the degree of texture is lower than that of the short-length Ni tape. The relationship between the texture formation and the processing parameter is reported. -
For the fabrication of HTS power cable, multifilamentary Bi-2223/Ag tapes have been prepared using the powder-in-tube (PIT) process. After final heat treatment, these tapes have
$I_{c}$ value of 43A, and$ J_{c}$ value of$28,000A/\textrm{cm}^2$ (77K, 0T). Prototype 1000A class multistrand conductor(length~1m) was fabricated using these tapes(length~300m). This multistrand conductor was impregnated with low-temperature epoxy. The transportation properties of prototype 1000A class multistrand conductor has been evaluated at 77K, and yielding a current capacity up to 1200A.A.A. -
To establish the deposition condition of YBCO thin film on MgO single crystal substrates, processing parameters of deposition temperature, chemical composition and oxygen partial pressure were controlled. When using a Ba-deficient composition of YB
$a_{1.8}$ $Cu_3$ $O_{x}$ , non-superconducting phase like CuO,$CuYO_2$ were formed, but BaCu02 was formed together with Yl23 phase when the starting composition was Ba-rich ($YBa_{2.3}$ $Cu_3$ $O_{x}$ ). The epitaxially grown Yl23 phase was formed at 760-$810^{\circ}C$ and$P_{O2}$ =0.29-0.91 Torr.r.r.r. -
NiO buffer layers were deposited on texture Ni tapes fur YBCO coated conductors by MOCVD(metal organic chemical vapor deposition) method, using a single solution source. Variables were deposition temperature and flow rate of
$0_2$ carrier gas. At higher temperatures, The NiO(111) texture was well developed, but the NiO(200) texture was developed at low temperatures. The best result was obtained at the deposition temperature of$ 470^{\circ}C$ and the gas flow rate of 200 sccm. FWHM value of$\omega$ -scan fur NiO(200) of the film and$\Phi$ -scan for NiO(111) of the film was$4.2^{\circ}$ and$7^{\circ}$ , respectively. -
A multifilamentary Bi-2223 HTS tape for superconducting power applications was studied through the fabrication of 250-meter long tapes by the PIT(powder in tube) process. To fabricate continuous long wire, a drawing machine, a two-drum bull block and a rolled tape winding machine were developed. Especially, 250-meter long tapes were heat treated in the shape of pancake coil to reduce the heat affect zone and to achieve the high critical current. Engineering critical current density was improved through both the enhancements of critical current density by control of thermal process and the increase of filling factor by using thin Ag alloy sheath tubes less than 1.5 mm in thickness. We have made successfully 250-meter long 37 filamentary tapes with high filling factor up to 31 % employing the modified drawing and rolling technique. The critical current of 250-meter long tapes with pancake coil type was measured by transport method at self-field up to 250 gauss of center field. The measured values, based on the transport critical current at self-field,
$I_{c}$ -B characteristics and magnetic field analysis, are 34 A of I$_{c}$ and 4.0$kA/\textrm{cm}^2$ of$J_{e}$ at 250 m, 77 K, and 0 T. We also have achieved the 56 A of I$_{c}$ and 7.0$0 kA/\textrm{cm}^2$ of$ J_{e}$ in short tapes at 77K, self-field, and 1$mutextrm{V}$ /cm.