Solid State Laser for Preparation of Oxide Superconductor Films

Some fundamental problems hindering coated-conductor applications are identified as high fabrication cost and low superconducting critical current density (Jc) in high magnetic fields. This book provides possible solutions for these problems: using Nd:YAG laser which has relatively lower installation cost relative to the excimer laser, and introducing effective flux-pinning centers into oxide superconductor films. Partial substitution of some rare-earth (RE) elements for Y sites of YBCO is known to be one of effective procedures to increase Jc. The replacement of Y by RE causes local distortion of the crystal structure and electron density and as a result pinning improvements are occurred. In this work, Ho is selected as the dopant because the ionic radius of Ho is almost similar to Y and therefore lattice distortion has not occurred. It may be possible to create the pinning effect as a result of different electron potential energies in randomly distributed Y and Ho sites. This text book is designed for superconductor related modules offered in undergraduate engineering programs and useful for research work on preparation of oxide superconductor films using solid state laser.