The Definition of the Paramethers of Superconducting Film for Production of Protection Equipment Against Electromagnetic Environmental Effects

The paper presents the results of evaluating the propagation of a plane electromagnetic wave (EMW) over the surface of a film made of a high-temperature superconductor (HTS) in both superconducting S and normal N states, as well as an analysis of the parameters of a thin HTS film necessary for implementing a device for protection against electromagnetic radiation. Evaluation of the propagation of EMW over the surface of a thin HTS film was performed on the basis of a two-fluid model. As a result of the research, relations were obtained for determining the value of the surface impedance and the depth of penetration of EMW into a superconducting film in S and N states. It is shown that the expression for determining the penetration depth of EMW into a superconducting film in the normal N state is applicable provided that the frequency of the signal field does not exceed the critical value, which is determined by the binding energy of charge carriers at a temperature not exceeding the transition temperature to the superconducting state. Based on the relations for determining the surface impedance of a thin HTS film, relations are obtained for the active surface resistance, which is the real part of the surface impedance, and the surface reactance, which is its imaginary part, in the superconducting and normal states. Using these ratios, the quality parameter of the HTS thin film is introduced. The dependence of the quality factor of the HTS film on its thickness is found. It is shown that the highest value of the quality factor is realized when the film thickness is less than or of the order of the penetration depth. It is noted that this dependence is valid only if the film thickness does not depend on its quality. Keywords — superconducting film, electromagnetic wave, two-fluid model, surface impedance, penetration depth.

Experimental Methods

In this chapter, several of the most important experimental techniques are described. These have been used to probe the most fundamental properties of the superconducting state: the energy gap and the pairing interaction. These methods have played a crucial role in validating the mechanism of superconductivity in conventional superconductors and are key to a fundamental understanding of superconductivity in more recently discovered novel superconductors like cuprates, Fe-based superconductors, and so on. The techniques that are described are all spectroscopic: tunnelling of quasiparticles through an insulating barrier or through a point contact ,Josephson tunnelling, the interaction of photons with a superconducting film or surface, the attenuation of ultrasonic waves,, the relaxation and/or resonance of muons interacting with a superconducting compound, and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS). High-pressure techniques and the preparation of thin films and junctions are described. In addition, a state-of-the-art experimental procedure that enables the observation of the Little mechanism is discussed.

Superconducting diode effect via conformal-mapped nanoholes

A superconducting diode is an electronic device that conducts supercurrent and exhibits zero resistance primarily for one direction of applied current. Such a dissipationless diode is a desirable unit for constructing electronic circuits with ultralow power consumption. However, realizing a superconducting diode is fundamentally and technologically challenging, as it usually requires a material structure without a centre of inversion, which is scarce among superconducting materials. Here, we demonstrate a superconducting diode achieved in a conventional superconducting film patterned with a conformal array of nanoscale holes, which breaks the spatial inversion symmetry. We showcase the superconducting diode effect through switchable and reversible rectification signals, which can be three orders of magnitude larger than that from a flux-quantum diode. The introduction of conformal potential landscapes for creating a superconducting diode is thereby proven as a convenient, tunable, yet vastly advantageous tool for superconducting electronics. This could be readily applicable to any superconducting materials, including cuprates and iron-based superconductors that have higher transition temperatures and are desirable in device applications.

Imaging of Strong Nanoscale Vortex Pinning in GdBaCuO High-Temperature Superconducting Tapes

The high critical current density of second-generation high-temperature superconducting (2G-HTS) tapes is the result of the systematic optimisation of the pinning landscape for superconducting vortices through careful engineering of the size and density of defects and non-superconducting second phases. Here, we use scanning Hall probe microscopy to conduct a vortex-resolved study of commercial GdBaCuO tapes in low fields for the first time and complement this work with “local” magnetisation and transport measurements. Magnetic imaging reveals highly disordered vortex patterns reflecting the presence of strong pinning from a dense distribution of nanoscale Gd2O3 second-phase inclusions in the superconducting film. However, we find that the measured vortex profiles are unexpectedly broad, with full-width-half-maxima typically of 6 μm, and exhibit almost no temperature dependence in the range 10–85 K. Since the lateral displacements of pinned vortex cores are not expected to exceed the superconducting layer thickness, this suggests that the observed broadening is caused by the disruption of the circulating supercurrents due to the high density of nanoscale pinning sites. Deviations of our local magnetisation data from an accepted 2D Bean critical state model also indicate that critical state profiles relax quite rapidly by flux creep. Our measurements provide important information about the role second-phase defects play in enhancing the critical current in these tapes and demonstrate the power of magnetic imaging as a complementary tool in the optimisation of vortex pinning phenomena in 2G-HTS tapes.

VISUALIZING THE DISTRIBUTION OF SPIRAL MAGNETIZATION IN THE FERROMAGNETIC LAYER OF A SUPERCONDUCTING SPIN VALVE

In this paper, we investigate the switch of a magnet-based superconducting spin valve. As a magnet, we consider the MnSi compound characterized by a complex magnetic structure with its magnetization in the form of a spiral helicoid. A model is given for a double-layered superconducting spin valve based on the spiral magnet with an adjoining superconducting thin layer. As shown previously, critical temperature of such a superconducting film depends on the direction of the spiral magnet. Calculations have been performed for magnetic dynamics of this structure, which in prospect can serve as the basis for creating memory or logic elements of low temperature nanoelectronics. Several problems have been treated with regards to mathematical simulation of switching the spin valve magnetization, research on the spin valve structure using electromagnetic simulation software to change magnetization and rotation of the spiral magnetic vector under the magnetic-field pulse, construction and analysis of 3D magnetization distributions in spiral magnets to trace the process of remagnetization. In this work, we use a Matlab-based software environment and tools for constructing distribution plots of vector fields. It is shown that the direction of the spiral magnet can be switch by pulsed magnetic field. Research has been done on the resultant magnetization distributions visualized in the form of vector fields.

On kinetics of superconducting state destruction in a nonlinear coplanar waveguide based on a high-temperature superconductor film

Subject and Purpose. The mechanism of destruction of the S-state of a nonlinear high-temperature superconductor as part of a coplanar waveguide has not been properly elucidated as the effect of avalanche-type transition to a highly dissipative state, which was experimentally detected by the authors, takes place. The present work is concerned with the development of an appropriate approach describing kinetics of destruction of the S-state of a nonlinear high-temperature superconductor in a coplanar waveguide with allowances made for an inhomogeneous distribution of the microwave current in the superconducting film strip. Methods and Methodology. Use of I.B. and O.G. Vendiks’ reasoning [2] is made on kinetics of the destruction of the superconducting state of a wide film when a direct current governed by the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation is applied. Keeping unchanged their idea as to the S–N boundary forming in the film strip with the boundary movement to the middle of the strip, the S–N boundary motion equation is obtained for a coplanar waveguide, proceeding in doing this from the motion equation of magnetic flux vortices under certain restrictions specified. Results. The time of S-state destruction has been numerically estimated: 1) for a wide superconducting film of YBa2Cu3O7–d composition, the destruction is by the direct current and 2) for a coplanar waveguide based on the same film, the destruction is by the microwave current. When the superconductivity is small (I / I c ³ 1), the destruction time values in both cases are close to each other within the order of magnitude. Conclusion. It is for the first time that the S-state destruction time in a coplanar waveguide has been expressed in terms of the microwave current distribution in the waveguide. It has been shown that this characteristic linearly depends on the ratio between the critical current and the microwave current amplitude in contrast to a quadratic dependence obtained for a superconducting strip with a direct current.