Quantum constraints on technological superconductors

Abstract
Vortex pinning in textured Bi2Sr2CaCu2Ox/Ag superconducting tapes was enhanced by irradiation with 0.8 GeV protons, creating randomly oriented columnar defects. Measurements of the current density J versus time show that thermally-activated current decay was greatly decreased, compared with unirradiated tapes. However, temperature-independent quantum tunneling of vortices considerably limits J and its temporal stability, for a significant fraction of the finite-Jc region.