Critical current density and ac harmonic voltage generation in YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films by the screening technique

Abstract The temperature and field dependence of harmonics in voltage V n = V n ′ - iV n ″ using the screening technique have been measured for Y Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7 - δ superconducting thin films. Using the Sun model we obtained the curves for the temperature-dependent critical current density J c ( T ) . In addition, we applied the criterion proposed by Acosta et al. to compute J c ( T ) . Also, we made used of the empirical law J c ∝ ( 1 - T / T c ) n as an input in our calculations to reproduce experimental harmonic generation up to the fifth harmonic. We found that most models fit well the fundamental voltage but higher harmonics are poorly reproduced. Such behavior suggests the idea that higher harmonics contain information concerning complex processes like flux creep or thermally assisted flux flow.