Strong pinning in heat treated YBa2Cu3O7-delta

A number of authors have discussed the pinning of magnetic fluxoids in high temperature superconductors in terms of a cooperative process involving large numbers of defects. In particular, in a recent study of magnetic flux creep in high quality single crystals of YBa2Cu3O7-delta, We Showed that an appropriate collective pinning model accurately described the creep in that part of the H-T phase diagram where the creep is controlled by single fluxoid motion. Here we present data on similar crystals given an additional heat treatment at temperatures above 800 degrees C. These crystals exhibit large critical currents that exceed the limit associated with collective pinning, suggesting the influence of strong pinning defects. An analysis of the pinning potential U(j) at large j provides further evidence for strong pinning. We suggest that the heat treatment introduces precipitates of nearly optimum size for pinning, leading to a combination of weak and strong pinning defects.