We use irradiation with 50-MeV Cu-ions to create vortex pinning defects in high-temperature superconducting Y_1Ba_2Cu_3O_7-x coated conductors using a beam-rastering approach that allows for the uniform irradiation of large ample areas. Our samples contain barium zirconate nanorods as pre-existing vortex pinning defects. By irradiating the samples at angles of 0^o, 15^oand 30^o from the crystallographic c-axis we explore the interplay between pre-existing and irradiation-induced pinning and find that irradiation at 30^o leads to a moderate enhancement of J_c at 5 K at high fields (greater than 2 Tesla). In contrast, J_c was suppressed for all temperatures and fields for other angles of irradiation. Optimized particle irradiation procedures offer a way for improving the performance of high-temperature superconducting wires for use in high magnetic fields without the need for changing wire synthesis protocols.

Vibrations can cause noise in scanning probe microscopies. Relative vibrations between the scanning sensor and the sample are important but can be more difficult to determine than absolute vibrations or vibrations relative to the laboratory. We measure the noise spectral density in a scanning SQUID microscope as a function of position near a localized source of magnetic field and show that we can determine the spectra of all three components of the relative sensor-sample vibrations. This method is a powerful tool for diagnosing vibrational noise in scanning microscopies.

Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) microscopy has excellent magnetic field sensitivity, but suffers from modest spatial resolution when compared with other scanning probes. This spatial resolution is determined by both the size of the field sensitive area and the spacing between this area and the sample surface. In this paper we describe scanning SQUID susceptometers that achieve sub-micron spatial resolution while retaining a white noise floor flux sensitivity of ≈2μΦ0/Hz1/2. This high spatial resolution is accomplished by deep sub-micron feature sizes, well shielded pickup loops fabricated using a planarized process, and a deep etch step that minimizes the spacing between the sample surface and the SQUID pickup loop. We describe the design, modeling, fabrication, and testing of these sensors. Although sub-micron spatial resolution has been achieved previously in scanning SQUID sensors, our sensors not only achieve high spatial resolution but also have integrated modulation coils for flux feedback, integrated field coils for susceptibility measurements, and batch processing. They are therefore a generally applicable tool for imaging sample magnetization, currents, and susceptibilities with higher spatial resolution than previous susceptometers.

In the past, magnetic images acquired using scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) microscopy have been interpreted using simple models for the sensor point spread function. However, more complicated modeling is needed when the characteristic dimensions of the field sensitive areas in these sensors become comparable to the London penetration depth. In this paper we calculate the response of SQUIDs with deep sub-micron pickup loops to different sources of magnetic fields by solving coupled London's and Maxwell's equations using the full sensor geometry. Tests of these calculations using various field sources are in reasonable agreement with experiments. These calculations allow us to more accurately interpret sub-micron spatial resolution data obtained using scanning SQUID microscopy.

We report on the effects of introducing columnar defects by irradiation in clean single crystals of YBa2Cu3O7−δ in a direction parallel to the ab-plane. The defects were introduced by bombarding the samples with 208Pb56+ ions at an energy of 1.4GeV. We find that the defects suppress the first order melting transition for magnetic fields aligned parallel or at small angles relative to the defects. The columnar defects inhibit vortex motion of vortices parallel to the defects, while the vortices experience less pinning when they are perpendicular to the defects. Our results suggest that the pinning anisotropy is increased, at least for magnetic fields up to the matching field dose of 1T.

We have carried out angular dependent magneto-transport measurements on optimally doped, untwinned YBa2Cu3O7−δ crystals irradiated with high energy heavy ions to determine the onset of vortex line tension in the vortex liquid state. The dose matching field was controlled and kept at a low level to partially preserve the first order vortex lattice melting transition. A Bose glass transition is observed below the lower critical point which then transforms into a first order phase transition near 4T. We find that the locus of points which indicates the onset of vortex line tension overlaps with the Bose glass transition line at low fields and then deviates at higher fields, indicating a new transition line in the vortex liquid state. This new line in the vortex liquid phase is dose independent and extends beyond the upper critical point.

In high-temperature superconductors, magnetic field lines penetrate the samples through vortices arranged in an Abrikosov vortex lattice. In a magnetic field Hm(T ) below the upper critical field Hc2(T ) that destroys bulk superconductivity, the vortex lattice melts to a liquid vortex state, in which each vortex line must be ‘pinned’ individually to prevent dissipation. Linear and planar defects have been found to be effective for pinning the vortex liquid because they trap an entire vortex within a single extended defect. However, up to now it is not known how far into the liquid state this pinning process can be effective. Here, we show that there is a universal magnetic field line Hl(T ) between Hm(T ) and Hc2(T ), where thermodynamic fluctuations of the order parameter can cause vortex unpinning from extended defects. This magnetic field Hl(T ) sets an upper limit to the irreversibility line Hirr(T ) marking the onset of dissipation. For that reason it determines a new magnetic-field–temperature region in which a superconductor can remain useful.

Columnar defects are shown to produce anisotropic pinning in the vortex liquid state of YBCO. We interpret the disappearance of anisotropic pinning as signaling the loss of longitudinal correlation of vortices as thermal fluctuations dominate their line tension.

We have used a home-made apertureless near-field scanning optical microscope (ANSOM) for mapping nanometric steps between SiC and gold regions under visible (lambda = 655 nm) and infrared (lambda = 10.6 mum) illumination. The images, obtained with a signal demodulation at the tip oscillation frequency and at higher harmonics, clearly show optical contrasts with a subwavelength resolution of about 30 nm. Other images recorded in the visible on a YBa2Cu3O7 crystal indicate that the tip used in our experiments is able to reveal polarization effects. We also present a near-field thermal optical microscope (NTOM) which operates without any external illumination. In this new kind of microscope, the laser source which is usually used to excite the evanescent waves, is replaced by a simple heating of the sample. The electromagnetic radiation locally scattered by the tip comes from the thermal radiation. Our results with this new technique prove a 200 um lateral resolution. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.