High-field critical current density enhancement in GdBCO coated conductors by cooperative defects
Daxing Huang, Di Chen, Hao Dong, Kai Wang, Wei‐Kan Chu, Tongxin Wang, Meiqi Wang, Kaigui Zhu, Hongwei Gu, Zhifeng Ren, Fazhu Ding
Abstract
Abstract Irradiation can precisely control defects in, and improve the superconducting properties of, REBa 2 Cu 3 O 7− δ (REBCO, RE: rare earth) coated conductors (CCs). Here we report an effective approach for enhancing the in-field performance of GdBCO CCs. The critical current density ( J c ) of GdBCO films was significantly improved through cooperative defects created by co-irradiation with O ions and protons, especially at low temperatures and high magnetic fields. Surprisingly, the in-field J c of commercial CCs can be nearly doubled. The cooperative irradiation-induced defects are uniformly distributed throughout the GdBCO layer, which promotes the overall performance of the CC. Moreover, the dimensions of these irradiation-induced defects closely match the coherence length of REBCO. This simple and efficient method is a practical post-production solution to improve the in-field performance of commercial REBCO CCs.