Magnetical Response and Mechanical Properties of High Temperature Superconductors, YBaCu3O7-X Materials

Abstract

Since the discovery of the second generation High Superconductor Materials (2G-HTSC) in 1986, their magnetic properties have been widely studied by different research groups around the world. During the last years, the mechanical properties at micro-/ and nanometric scale are starting to be studied in order to know and improve the durability of conventional devices. In this book chapter, we would like to focus our attention on the magnetical response and also the mechanical properties of 2G-HTSC. In relation to the magnetic response, the Meissner effect is one important signature of the superconductivity. In this case, a diamagnetic response is observed due to exclusion of the magnetic flux of the interior of the superconducting material when the temperature is below the critical temperature. This important property allows to distinguish a superconducting material from a conducting one. But in several cases the superconducting materials exhibit a paramagnetic response instead of the conventional diamagnetism. This effect is frequently called paramagnetic Meissner effect (PME). In this case, the magnetic flux is not expelled, and a paramagnetic state can be originated. This effect is observed in several magnetic field regimes, and in some cases the paramagnetic response increases with the applied magnetic field, but in others the paramagnetic response decreases when the magnetic field increases...