WB9-5

TLAG-CSD growth of YBa2Cu3O7-δ nanocomposite films using preformed BaMO3 and BaM2O6 nanoparticles
*Diana Garcia1,2, Natalia Chamorro1,2, Júlia Jareño1, Kapil Gupta1, Lavinia Saltarelli1, Albert Queraltó1, Aiswarya Kethamkuzhi1, Juri Banchewski1, Josep Ros2, Xavier Obradors1, Ramón Yañéz2, Susagna Ricart1, Teresa Puig1

One of the main challenges of coated conductors is to develop low cost materials carrying high currents at high magnetic fields by pinning vortices at none superconducting nanoscale defects. The growth of low cost Chemical Solution Deposition (CSD) nanocomposites has been one of the most effective strategy for YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) superconducting layers [1] and the combination with preformed nanoparticles has recently proven to be a very good pathway [2].

Metal oxide nanoparticles such as BaMO3 (M= Zr and Hf) and BaM2O6 (M= Nb and Ta) are the most interesting choices due to their compatibility with YBCO precursor solutions and growth. Using a hybrid method, combining aqueous sol-gel and solvothermal approaches, we have synthesized small-sized, crystalline, monodisperse and stable BaMO3 NPs. We are able to tune their size in a range of 4 - 20 nm, controlling the hydrolysis step involved in the reaction mechanism [3]. Moreover, small-sized (4-6 nm) and agglomeration-free BaM2O6 NPs have been obtained, for the first time, using a surfactant-free solvothermal method and a post-synthetic surface functionalization.

We have used the non-equilibrium ultrafast Transient Liquid Assisted Growth (TLAG-CSD) method to grow YBCO nanocomposite films with the above preformed nanoparticles. We have developed a fluorine-free colloidal YBCO precursor solution adapted to TLAG-CSD nanocomposites able to achieve very homogenous and reproducible multideposited films. We have demonstrated the compatibility and stabilization of preformed NPs in the YBCO precursor solution, obtaining homogenous pyrolyzed films with crystalline NPs, homogenously distributed without coarsening. Finally, we have further proved the compatibility and chemical/thermal stability of NPs with the TLAG approach [4], and determined the parameters to achieve epitaxial YBCO multideposited TLAG nanocomposites obtaining the first promising Jc results of 2 MA/cm2 at 77 k for 400 nm of thickness.

[1] A. Llordés et al., Nat Mater. 6, 2012, 329-36
[2] Z. Li et al., Scientific Reports 9, 2019, 5828
[3] N. Chamorro et eal., RSC Adv. 10, 2020, 28872-28878
[4] L. Soler et al., Nat Commun. 11, 2020, 344

Keywords: Metal Oxide Nanoparticles, Superconducting Nanocomposite Film, Chemical Solution Deposition , Transient Liquid Assisted Growth

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