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Weak-link-free behaviour of high-angle YBa2Cu3O7–δ grain boundaries in high magnetic fields

Nature volume 347, pages 167–169 (1990)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 17 January 1991

Abstract

A CRUCIAL issue in both the physics and the application of high-temperature superconductors is the low transport critical current density (Jct) of polycrystalline materials. Much thinking about this issue has been defined by the thin-film YBa2Cu3O7–δ bicrystal experiments of Dimos et al.1,2, which clearly showed greatly reduced values of Jct at high-angle grain boundaries (mis-orientation angle ≳ 10°). The reproducibility of this result for a wide range of misorientation relationships led them to conclude that all high-angle grain boundaries act intrinsically as Josephson junctions. By contrast, we describe here two high-angle grain boundaries with superconducting properties that clearly lack the weak-link signatures characteristic of Josephson junctions. Our bulk-scale bicrystal results provide direct evidence that not all high-angle grain boundaries are alike in their superconducting properties, and that at least some high-angle boundaries can carry significant supercurrents at 77 K in high magnetic fields.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Superconductivity Center,

    S. E. Babcock, X. Y. Cai & D. C. Larbalestier

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin, 1500 Johnson Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

    D. C. Larbalestier

  3. Ceramics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, USA

    D. L. Kaiser

Authors
  1. S. E. Babcock
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  2. X. Y. Cai
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  3. D. L. Kaiser
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  4. D. C. Larbalestier
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Babcock, S., Cai, X., Kaiser, D. et al. Weak-link-free behaviour of high-angle YBa2Cu3O7–δ grain boundaries in high magnetic fields. Nature 347, 167–169 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/347167a0

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