Effect of Nano ZnO Doping on the Nature of Pinning of MgB2 Superconductors

  • M. Shahabuddin
  • Intikhab A. Ansari
  • Nasser S. Alzayed
  • Khalil A. Ziq
  • A. F. Salem
Original Paper

Abstract

The paper reports the JC(H,T) of nano-ZnO doped MgB2 samples calculated from MH loop measurements. Volume pinning forces at different temperatures have been evaluated as a function of the field from the JCH data. Two different scaling laws, one by Fietz and Webb and another one by M. Eisterer, are used here to analyze the pinning forces. All samples show the scaling behavior, which confirms the existence of grain boundary pinning. The XRD and RT data show the substitution of Zn at Mg sites. The anisotropy in the sample is found to decrease with the doping of the nano-ZnO. The improvement in the JC(H,T) of the sample with the nano-ZnO doping is due to decrease in the anisotropy and increase in the volume pinning forces. The 2 % nano-ZnO doping is found to be the optimal value in order to achieve the highest JC(H,T) in these samples.

Keywords

MgB2 Nano-zinc oxide Critical current Pinning force Scaling and anisotropy 

Notes

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NPST program by King Saud University, Riyadh, under the project number 08-ADV397-2.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • M. Shahabuddin
    • 1
  • Intikhab A. Ansari
    • 1
  • Nasser S. Alzayed
    • 1
  • Khalil A. Ziq
    • 2
  • A. F. Salem
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of ScienceKing Saud UniversityRiyadhSaudi Arabia
  2. 2.Department of Physics, College of ScienceKing Fahad University of Petroleum and MineralsDehranSaudi Arabia

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