This study proposes a novel solution blow spinning technique (SBS) for fabricating YBCO ceramic nanofibers. The precursor solutions were obtained from Y, Ba, and Cu metallic acetates (Ac) and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP, Mw = 360,000). Ac:PVP concentrations of 1:1 and 5:1 were tested, resulting in ceramic nanofibers with average diameters of 359 and 375 nm, respectively. X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of a pure phase of YBa2Cu3O7-x. This is the first study to use SBS for fabricating YBCO nanofibers, and this technique shows promise for obtaining high-quality ceramic materials.Comment: 5 figures, 5 page

We have established a link between the global ac response and the local flux distribution of superconducting films by combining magnetic ac susceptibility, dc magnetization, and magneto-optical measurements. The investigated samples are three Nb films: a plain specimen, used as a reference sample, and other two films patterned with square arrays of antidots. At low temperatures and small ac amplitudes of the excitation field, the Meissner screening prevents penetration of flux into the sample. Above a certain ac drive threshold, flux avalanches are triggered during the first cycle of the ac excitation. The subsequent periodic removal, inversion, and rise of flux occurs essentially through the already-created dendrites, giving rise to an ac susceptibility signal weakly dependent on the applied field. The intradendrite flux oscillation is followed, at higher values of the excitation field, by a more drastic process consisting of creation of new dendrites and antidendrites. In this more invasive regime, the ac susceptibility shows a clear field dependence. At higher temperatures a smooth penetration occurs, and the flux profile is characteristic of a critical state. We have also shown that the regime dominated by vortex avalanches can be reliably identified by ac susceptibility measurements. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.214529 ©2011 American Physical Society

The manipulation and control of vortex states in superconducting systems are of great interest in view of possible applications, for which mesoscopic materials are good candidates. In this work, we studied the annihilation dynamics and the dissipative aspects of an Abrikosov’s vortex-antivortex pair in a mesoscopic superconducting system with a concentric hole. The generalized time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equations were numerically solved. The main result is the appearance of a phase slip-like line due to the elongation of the vortex and antivortex cores. Under specific circumstances, thermal dissipation might be associated with a sizeable relaxation of the order parameter, so that the energy released in the annihilation of a vortex-antivortex pair might become detectable in measurements of the magnetization as a function of time.