Radiation damage of YBa2Cu3O7 superconductors

The effect of ion-beam irradiation on YBa2Cu3O7 superconductors has been investigated by Raman spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS)-channelling. Different ion beams have been used (12C, 127I and 197Au at 10, 210 and 252 MeV, respectively) in order to study the radiation damage with respect to the mass of the bombarding ions. In addition, different doses of irradiation have been used for each ion beam in order to define from the Raman spectra the critical dose at which the crystalline to amorphous transformation of the superconductor takes place and to characterize the defect structure responsible for this transformation. The channelling measurements have been performed in situ by using 12C beam both for channelling and irradiation up to a maximum dose of ∝3 x 1016 ions/cm2. (orig.)