Superconducting Properties and Performance of YBCO Materials
Summary
Yttrium barium copper oxide (YBa₂Cu₃O₇−δ, often abbreviated to YBCO) is a benchmark high-temperature superconductor distinguished by its relatively high critical temperature near 92 K and its robust ability to carry large supercurrents. Its orthorhombic crystal structure supports CuO₂ planes within which Cooper pairs form and propagate without electrical resistance. The performance of YBCO is governed by factors such as oxygen stoichiometry, grain connectivity and flux-pinning efficacy. Optimising the oxygen content (δ) adjusts the carrier concentration in the CuO₂ planes, while the fabrication route—whether melt-texturing, chemical routes or thin-film deposition—controls grain boundaries that can impede or facilitate current flow. The introduction of secondary phases or nanoscale dopants can improve pinning of magnetic vortices, enhancing the critical current density (Jc) under applied magnetic fields. These advances underpin potential applications in power transmission cables, fault-current limiters, high-field magnets and magnetic levitation for transport, making YBCO a material of global significance.
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Superconducting Properties and Performance of YBCO Materials publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in superconducting properties and performance of ybco materials across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Critical temperature (Tc): The threshold temperature below which a material exhibits zero electrical resistance and enters the superconducting state.
Critical current density (Jc): The maximum current per unit cross-section that a superconductor can carry without quenching its resistance-free state.
Flux pinning: The immobilisation of magnetic vortices within a superconductor by defects or inclusions, preventing their motion under applied currents or fields and thus maintaining high Jc.
Intergranular coupling: The effective superconducting linkage between crystallographic grains, which determines how easily supercurrents traverse grain boundaries.
Orthorhombic structure: The crystal symmetry of optimally oxygenated YBCO, featuring three mutually perpendicular axes of unequal length that support superconductivity in the CuO₂ planes.
References
- Effect of Graphene Nanoparticles Addition on Superconductivity of YBa2Cu3O7~δ Synthesized via the Thermal Treatment Method. Coatings (2022).
- The effect of Ni doping on the electrical and magnetic properties of Y1-xNixBa2Cu3O7 delta superconductors. Materials Research Express (2020).
- Carbon nanofibers addition on transport and superconducting properties of bulk YBa2Cu3O7−δ material prepared via co-precipitation. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics (2020).
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