Thermally activated flux dissipation in (1-x) YBa₂Cu₃0_7-δ + x BaTiO₃ Superconductor

The magneto-resistance of bulk polycrystalline (1-x) YBCO + × BaTiO₃ superconductor is reported. The onset of global superconductivity and transition temperature of the sample is observed to decrease with the application of magnetic field and BaTiO₃ incorporation. The resistivity showed remarkable broadening in the magnetic field as compared with zero field resistivity. The activation energy of the thermally activated flux flow was determined from the slope of Arrhenius plot. The dependence of the activation energy on temperature and magnetic field were obtained. The activation energy decreased in the presence of ferroelectric BaTiO₃ inclusion and magnetic field. This may imply an easier thermally activated flux flow due to the vortex decoupling across the non-superconductive grain boundaries. Morphological modification identified that BaTiO₃ resides in the grain boundary of the granular matrix of YBCO.