AC Susceptibility Study of Superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O₇:Ag _x Bulk Composites (x=0.0–0.20): The Role of Intra and Intergranular Coupling

Abstract

We report the effect of silver addition on superconducting performance of bulk YBCO (YBa₂Cu₃O₇) superconductor. All the studied samples are prepared by conventional solid-state reaction method. Rietveld fitted X-ray diffraction data confirmed the single phase formation for all the studied samples. Detailed AC susceptibility measurements as a function of driven AC amplitude (1 Oe–17 Oe) of these samples revealed the enhancement of grains coupling with increasing Ag content in YBCO + Ag _x composite system. 10 wt% Ag added YBCO superconductors exhibited the optimal intergranular coupling. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations indicate an increase in the grains connectivity in terms of narrow grain boundaries for doped samples. The average grain size is found to increase with Ag doping. It is concluded that limited addition of Ag in bulk YBCO superconductor significantly improves the grains coupling and, as a result, the optimal superconducting performance. YBCO + Ag composites could prove to be potential candidates for bulk superconducting applications of the studied high-T _c system.