Laser-Assisted Field Evaporation of (R = Gd, Sm) High-Temperature Superconducting Coated Conductors

Abstract In the field of high-temperature superconductors, atom probe tomography is a relatively new instrument, with the ability to provide a new perspective on the 3D nanoscale microstructure. However, field evaporation of nonmetallic materials is fraught with unique challenges that matter little...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microscopy and microanalysis 2021-12, Vol.27 (6), p.1338-1355
Main Authors: Smith, Jesse D, Huh, Jeong, Shelton, Adam, Reidy, Richard F, Young, Marcus L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conductors
Crystal defects
Crystallography
Evaporation
Flux pinning
Gadolinium
High temperature superconductors
Ion beams
Lasers
Magnetic fields
Orientation effects
Precipitates
Superconducting tapes
Thermal cycling
Thin films
Tomography
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Summary:Abstract In the field of high-temperature superconductors, atom probe tomography is a relatively new instrument, with the ability to provide a new perspective on the 3D nanoscale microstructure. However, field evaporation of nonmetallic materials is fraught with unique challenges that matter little in the world of metallic evaporation. In this study, we review the laser absorption, correlated evaporation, molecular dissociation, and the crystallographic effects on the field evaporation of 800-m (R = Gd, Sm) coated conductor tapes deposited by Reactive Co-Evaporation Cyclic Deposition and Reaction (RCE-CDR). Ultraviolet 355 nm laser pulsing was found to have a substantial beneficial effect on minimizing the fracture probability compared with 532 nm illumination, especially when evaporating insulating oxide precipitates. This, in turn, allows for the 3D compositional analysis of defects such as flux pinning centers introduced by precipitation and doping. As a result, evidence for the precipitation of nanoscale is discussed. The effect of crystallographic orientation is studied, where [001] aligned evaporation is found to develop compositional aberrations.
ISSN:1431-9276
1435-8115
DOI:10.1017/S1431927621012794