Flux pinning effect in a melt textured YBCO bulk evaluated by using tension measurements

Research on the flux pinning effect in type-II superconductors has usually been focused on microor nanosize pinning centers, and mm-sized pinning centers have been relatively less studied. In order to investigate the flux pinning effect caused by mm-sized pinning centers, we introduce a tension measurement method in this research. A cm-sized melt-textured YBCO bulk, in which holes with a 2 mm diameter are made, is prepared. The YBCO bulk is field-cooled by using a strong magnet in liquid nitrogen, and the bulk and the magnet are separated from each other. Then, an attractive force (f a ) between them is generated, and f a is detected by using a tension measuring device. As the distance (d) between them is increased, f a increases at short distance and decreases at long distance, showing a maximum value, f am , at a specific distance. The measurement of f a is stopped when d reaches a value defined as the breaking distance (d bk ), as if a ‘string’ between the magnet and the YBCO bulk is broken. As the number of holes (n) made in the YBCO bulk increases from 1 to 6, f am and d bk increase, in spite of the superconducting volume loss. f am and d bk for n ≥ 7 converge to nearly constant values, which are smaller than the values for n = 6. This means that the critical current density can be calculated by using f am or d bk for a sufficient number of holes.