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Register a new userProperties of grain boundaries in high-Tc superconductors -- notes on a recent presentation --
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J. Mannhart
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The purpose of this article is to discuss a view concerning key datasets of the properties of grain boundaries in high-Tc superconductors that was recently expressed in Ref. 1. The reference also criticizes our research. Using examples I disprove this criticism.
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The interface properties of high-temperature cuprate superconductors have been of interest for many years, and play an essential role in Josephson junctions, superconducting cables, and microwave electronics. In particular, the maximum critical current achievable in high-Tc wires and tapes is well known to be limited by the presence of grain boundaries, regions of mismatch between crystallites with misoriented crystalline axes. In studies of single, artificially fabricated grain boundaries the striking observation has been made that the critical current Jc of a grain boundary junction depends exponentially on the misorientation angle. Until now microscopic understanding of this apparently universal behavior has been lacking. We present here the results of a microscopic evaluation based on a construction of fully 3D YBCO grain boundaries by molecular dynamics. With these structures, we calculate an effective tight-binding Hamiltonian for the d-wave superconductor with a grain boundary. The critical current is then shown to follow an exponential suppression with grain boundary angle. We identify the buildup of charge inhomogeneities as the dominant mechanism for the suppression of the supercurrent.
Microwave-field distribution, dissipation, and surface impedance are theoretically investigated for superconductors with laminar grain boundaries (GBs). In the present theory we adopt the two-fluid model for intragrain transport current in the grains, and the Josephson-junction model for intergrain tunneling current across GBs. Results show that the surface resistance $R_s$ nonmonotonically depends on the critical current density $J_{cj}$ at GB junctions, and $R_s$ for superconductors with GBs can be smaller than the surface resistance $R_{s0}$ for ideal homogeneous superconductors without GBs.
It is shown that the critical current density of high-Tc wires can be greatly enhanced by using a threefold approach, which consists of grain alignment, doping, and optimization of the grain architecture. According to model calculations, current densities of 4x10^6 A/cm2 can be achieved for an average grain alignment of 10 degree at 77K. Based on this approach, a road to competitive high-Tc cables is proposed.
The Fe-based superconductors (FBS) are an important new class of superconducting materials. As with any new superconductor with a high transition temperature and upper critical field, there is a need to establish what their applications potential might be. Applications require high critical current densities, so the usefulness of any new superconductor is determined both by the capability to develop strong vortex pinning and by the absence or ability to overcome any strong current-limiting mechanisms of which grain boundaries in the cuprates are a cautionary example. In this review we first consider the positive role that grain boundary properties play in the metallic, low temperature superconductors and then review the theoretical background and current experimental data relating to the properties of grain boundaries in FBS polycrystals, bi-crystal thin films, and wires. Based on this evidence, we conclude that grain boundaries in FBS are weak linked in a qualitatively similar way to grain boundaries in the cuprate superconductors, but also that the effects are a little less marked. Initial experiments with the textured substrates used for cuprate coated conductors show similar benefit for the critical current density of FBS thin films too. We also note that the particular richness of the pairing symmetry and the multiband parent state in FBS may provide opportunities for grain boundary modification as a better understanding of their pairing state and grain boundary properties are developed.
By lithographically fabricating an optimised Wheatstone bridge geometry, we have been able to make accurate measurements of the resistance of grain boundaries in Y1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7-d between the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, and room temperature. Below Tc the normal state properties were assessed by applying sufficiently high currents. The behaviour of the grain boundary resistance versus temperature and of the conductance versus voltage are discussed in the framework charge transport through a tunnel barrier. The influence of misorientation angle, oxygen content, and calcium doping on the normal state properties is related to changes of the height and shape of the grain boundary potential barrier.
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