Flux pinning in Y1−xPrxBa2Cu3O7−δ high T c superconductors

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Abstract
Magnetic relaxation measurements have been made on two sets of samples of Y1−x Pr x Ba2Cu3O7−δ high T c superconductors with 0≤x≤0.10. The samples were prepared as fibers using a sol‐gel process and as polycrystalline pellets using a standard solid‐state reaction technique. In an applied field of 5 kOe at 30 K, the fluxoid pinning potential U was observed to increase approximately linearly with Pr concentration x at the rate dU/dx≊1 eV. A mechanism for the enhancement of U may be the suppression of the superconducting order parameter in the vicinity of the Pr ions due to magnetic pair breaking.