Pinning enhancement in zone-melted (Sm0.5Y0.5)Ba2Cu3O7-delta superconductor by CeO2 addition

For the flux pinning enhancement of (Sm0.5Y0.5)Ba2Cu3O7-delta superconducto rs we have developed a fabrication method of zone-melting-growth with CeO2 addition to the calcined (Sm0.5Y0.5)Ba2Cu3O7-delta powder. To analyze the e ffect of CeO2 addition, a zone-melted sample without CeO2 addition was fabr icated using the same process. Microstructure analysis of CeO2 added sample showed that fine ellipsoidal (Sm-0.5)(2)BaCuO5 inclusions were uniformly d ispersed in a large (Sm0.5Y0.5)Ba2Cu3O7-delta grain. Magnetization hysteres is was measured to analyze flux pinning effect using a SQUID magnetometer. At 10 K and 10 kG the sample with CeO2 addition showed two times larger mag netization hysteresis than the sample without CeO2 addition.