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    Structural and Electric Properties of Epitaxial Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-Based Thin Films
    (Basel : MDPI, 2021) Magalhaes, Bruno; Engelhardt, Stefan; Molin, Christian; Gebhardt, Sylvia E.; Nielsch, Kornelius; Hühne, Ruben
    Substantial efforts are dedicated worldwide to use lead-free materials for environmentally friendly processes in electrocaloric cooling. Whereas investigations on bulk materials showed that Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (NBT)-based compounds might be suitable for such applications, our aim is to clarify the feasibility of epitaxial NBT-based thin films for more detailed investigations on the correlation between the composition, microstructure, and functional properties. Therefore, NBT-based thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on different single crystalline substrates using a thin epitaxial La0.5Sr0.5CoO3 layer as the bottom electrode for subsequent electric measurements. Structural characterization revealed an undisturbed epitaxial growth of NBT on lattice-matching substrates with a columnar microstructure, but high roughness and increasing grain size with larger film thickness. Dielectric measurements indicate a shift of the phase transition to lower temperatures compared to bulk samples as well as a reduced permittivity and increased losses at higher temperatures. Whereas polarization loops taken at −100 °C revealed a distinct ferroelectric behavior, room temperature data showed a significant resistive contribution in these measurements. Leakage current studies confirmed a non-negligible conductivity between the electrodes, thus preventing an indirect characterization of the electrocaloric properties of these films.
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    Effect of Silver Doping on the Superconducting and Structural Properties of YBCO Films Grown by PLD on Different Templates
    (Basel : MDPI, 2022) Shipulin, Ilya A.; Thomas, Aleena Anna; Holleis, Sigrid; Eisterer, Michael; Nielsch, Kornelius; Hühne, Ruben
    We report the local structural and superconducting properties of undoped and Ag-doped YBa2Cu3O6+x (YBCO) films with a thickness of up to 1 µm prepared by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO3 (STO) single crystals and on ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) and rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrate (RABiTS)-based metal templates. X-ray diffraction demonstrates the high crystalline quality of the films on both single crystalline substrates and metal-based templates, respectively. Although there was only a slight decrease in Tc of up to 1.5 K for the Ag-doped YBCO films on all substrates, we found significant changes in their transport characteristics. The effect of the silver doping mainly depended on the concentration of silver, the type of substrate, and the temperature and magnetic field. In general, the greatest improvement in Jc over a wide range of magnetic fields and temperatures was observed for the 5%Ag-doped YBCO films on STO substrates, showing a significant increase compared to undoped films. Furthermore, a slight Jc improvement was observed for the 2%Ag-doped YBCO films on the RABiTS templates at temperatures below 65 K, whereas Jc decreased for the Ag-doped films on IBAD-MgO-based templates compared to undoped YBCO films. Using detailed electron microscopy studies, small changes in the local microstructure of the Ag-doped YBCO films were revealed; however, no clear correlation was found with the transport properties of the films.
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    Influence of Lattice Mismatch on Structural and Functional Properties of Epitaxial Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 Thin Films
    (Basel : MDPI, 2023) Wawra, Jonas; Nielsch, Kornelius; Hühne, Ruben
    Substrate-induced strains can significantly influence the structural properties of epitaxial thin films. In ferroelectrics, this might lead to significant changes in the functional properties due to the strong electromechanical coupling in those materials. To study this in more detail, epitaxial Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 films, which have a perovskite structure and a structural phase transition close to room temperature, were grown with different thicknesses on REScO3 (RE–rare earth element) substrates having a smaller lattice mismatch compared to SrTiO3. A fully strained SrRuO3 bottom electrode and Pt top contacts were used to achieve a capacitor-like architecture. Different X-ray diffraction techniques were applied to study the microstructure of the films. Epitaxial films with a higher crystalline quality were obtained on scandates in comparison to SrTiO3, whereas the strain state of the functional layer was strongly dependent on the chosen substrate and the thickness. Differences in permittivity and a non-linear polarization behavior were observed at higher temperatures, suggesting that ferroelectricity is supressed under tensile strain conditions in contrast to compressive strain for our measurement configuration, while a similar reentrant relaxor-like behavior was found in all studied layers below 0°C.
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    Influence of the magnet aspect ratio on the dynamic stiffness of a rotating superconducting magnetic bearing
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2020) Espenhahn, Tilo; Wunderwald, Florian; Möller, Marcel; Sparing, Maria; Hossain, Mahmud; Fuchs, Günter; Abdkader, Anwar; Cherif, Chokri; Nielsch, Kornelius; Hühne, Ruben
    Rotating superconducting bearings promise great potential in applications due to their frictionless operation. However, these bearings show a lower dynamic stiffness and damping coefficient compared to ball bearings. In this paper we studied a bearing consisting of a fixed YBCO ring and a rotating magnet above the superconductor. The influence of the magnet aspect ratio on the dynamic stiffness of the bearing was investigated in order to find an optimized size. To change the aspect ratio, we kept the inner diameter of the ring constant and reduced the outer diameter while increasing the ring height. In addition to these magnets, one magnet with a reduced cross-sectional area was studied. The aspect ratio selection was based on preliminary magnetic flux density simulations, which compared the magnetic flux density distribution and the potential radial force for different aspect ratios. To conduct the measurements, the field-cooled magnets were displaced in a lateral direction and then released, resulting in a damped oscillation. The dynamic stiffness constants were calculated for each bearing from the relation of three axis acceleration measurements for different field cooling heights. The comparison of the stiffness constants for the different bearings revealed an optimal aspect ratio for the given YBCO ring. This optimum is almost independent from the cooling height. The comparison between the two magnet rings with similar diameters and different heights was similar for the bearing characteristics at a low cooling height, whereas a significant reduction of stiffness was observed with a larger cooling distance. The difference is bigger for the magnet with a reduced height. The optimal aspect ratio as well as the stiffness dependence on the cross-sectional area was confirmed by simulations of the magnetic flux density distribution. © 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd.
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    Analysis of the high-speed rotary motion of a superconducting magnetic bearing during ring spinning
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2020) Sparing, Maria; Espenhahn, Tilo; Fuchs, Günter; Hossain, Mahmud; Abdkader, Anwar; Nielsch, Kornelius; Cherif, Chokri; Hühne, Ruben
    Ring spinning is the leading textile technology for the production of short staple yarn, which runs commercially up to a maximum speed of 25 000 rpm. Higher speeds result in yarn damage mainly due to frictional heat. To eliminate this limitation, a friction-free superconducting magnetic bearing (SMB) was introduced as alternative high-speed yarn twist element consisting of a cryostat with an array of superconductors and a levitating permanent magnet ring with a yarn guide. Whereas stable spinning was possible until 30 000 rpm, it turned out that the new SMB twist element is more susceptible to external disturbances resulting in oscillating movements of the magnet. Therefore, a measurement system with an array of 5 synchronized optical laser triangulation sensors and one tachometer was implemented to analyse this motion in detail during spinning with high speeds. To test the system, the spinning speed was varied between 10 000 rpm and 21 000 rpm for different yarn qualities. In general, the magnetic ring oscillates around its centre position with the rotation frequency and a peak amplitude between 10 μm and 14 μm, which might be due to a small imbalance of the magnet. At the same time, the small tilt of the ring remained fixed with respect to the machine for all speeds. In addition, larger oscillation amplitudes of up to 300 μm are observed at 18 Hz for selected spinning parameters arising most probably from resonance effects with machine vibrations.