Abstract
We report electrical conductivity fluctuation analyses on YBa2Cu3O (y) (denoted as YBCO) granular samples added with nanosize ZnMnO (ZnMnO for brevity) and ZnO (30 nm) particles. Nanoparticles are added to the precursor powders during the final sintering cycle of a two-step preparation process. Phase analysis by X-ray diffraction and granular structure examination by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were carried out. When ZnMnO and ZnO are added to the YBCO, the orthorhombic structure is maintained. TEM and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis show the presence of inhomogeneities embedded in the superconducting matrix. The temperature dependence of electrical resistivity in zero magnetic field has been measured on free, 1 wt.% ZnMnO and 1 wt.% ZnO added samples and the effect of microscopic inhomogeneities in the paraconductivity region has been reported. Data about the dimensionality of the thermodynamic fluctuation are obtained by analyzing the excess of conductivity Delta sigma as a function of the reduced temperature epsilon =1n (T/T-c(mf) -1) on the basis of the Aslamazov-Larkin theory. In the mean-field region a crossover from 3D to 2D was observed for each sample. 1D behavior of fluctuation conductivity was found at high temperatures (above the 2D regime) for nanoparticle added samples. The zero-temperature coherence length, the effective layer thickness of the two-dimensional system, the wire cross-sectional area for one-dimensional system, critical magnetic fields and critical current density are estimated. Superconducting parameters are affected by the nanoparticle additions.