Superconductivity in sintered-polycristalline PrBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7-\delta}$

TL;DR

This paper reports the first observation of superconductivity in sintered-polycrystalline PrBa₂Cu₃O₇−δ samples with a transition temperature around 90 K, achieved through a sol-gel synthesis method and comprehensive structural and magnetic characterization.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to synthesize superconducting sintered-polycrystalline Pr-123, demonstrating superconductivity in this previously unreported sample form.

Findings

Superconductivity observed at Tc ≈ 90 K in sintered-polycrystalline Pr-123.

First report of superconductivity in this sample form.

Magnetic measurements show critical field Hc1 around 870 Oe.

Abstract

Superconductivity in thin films and powders, and in single crystals of Pr-123 has been found by Blackstead et al. and Zou et al., respectively. Nevertheless, up to now it has never been reported in sintered-policrystalline samples. We have prepared high-quality samples of this material by following a sol-gel method. We characterized the structure of all samples by using XRD and SEM-EDS techniques. Magnetic characterization was performed by measuring the magnetization as a function of the temperature T, and the applied magnetic field H. Measurements were taken in the ranges 2 K <T < 400 K and 0 <H< 5 Tesla. In this work we report by the first time superconductivity in Pr-123 sintered-polycristalline samples, with $T{_c}$ around 90 K, and $H{_c1}$ around 870 Oe.