Enhanced flux pinning in MOD-YBCO films with co-doping of BaZrO ₃ and Y ₂O ₃ nanoparticles

A combined BaZrO ₃ (BZO) and Y ₂O ₃ nanoparticles has been achieved in YBa ₂Cu ₃O _7-x (YBCO) films by metalorganic deposition using trifluoroacetates (TFA-MOD). The formation of integrated nanoparticles increases the critical current density (J _c) of Y ₂O ₃/BZO doped-YBCO films while keeping the critical transition temperature (T _c) close to that in the pure YBCO films. The YBCO film with 7.0 mol.% BZO and 7.0 mol.% Y ₂O ₃ showed T _c value of 90 K and J _c value of 6.5 mA/cm ² at self-field (0 T, 77 K). The strongly enhanced flux pinning over a wide range of magnetic field can be attributed to the combined different crystal structures of BZO and Y ₂O ₃ created by optimized TFA-MOD conditions.