Ion Beam Analysis and Electric Properties of GdBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ Added with Nanosized Ferrites ZnFe₂O₄ and CoFe₂O₄

Hadi Basma¹, Mohamad Roumié², Ramadan Awad^1,3*, Salem Marhaba¹, Mohamad Albast², Ali Abualy³

¹Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Beirut Arab University (BAU), Beirut, Lebanon.
²Accelerator Laboratory, Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission, CNRS, Beirut, Lebanon.
³Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.

DOI: 10.4236/msa.2015.69085                

Abstract

In this study, superconducting samples of type GdBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ added with x wt% (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) nanoferrites ZnFe₂O₄ and CoFe₂O₄ were prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction technique. The prepared samples were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) in order to determine the volume fraction and lattice parameters. The elemental contents of the prepared samples were determined using particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE). In addition, the oxygen-content of these samples was obtained using non-Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) at 3 MeV proton beam. It is found that the Oxygen-content of GdBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ phase remains practically constant for low additions of both nanoferrites but it increases with high additions. The electrical resistivity of the prepared samples was measured by the conventional four-probe technique from room temperature down to the zero superconducting transition temperature (T0). An increase in the superconducting transition temperature Tc and the critical current density Jc is observed as x varies from 0.0 to 0.06 wt% of (ZnFe₂O₄)xGdBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ, followed by a systematic decrease with increasing x. On the other hand, the Tc values for (CoFe₂O₄)xGdBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ show a systematic decrease with x for both high and low additions while Jc is enhanced up to x = 0.01 wt% and decrease with further increase in x.

Keywords

Gd-123, Nanoferrites, X-Ray Diffraction, PIXE and RBS, Critical Current Density

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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