Effect of neutron irradiation on pinning in SmBaCuO and YBaCuO superconductors

In the present work, we have investigated the effect of neutron irradiation on the pinning and transport properties of melt-textured SmBaCuO samples. It was observed that the critical current density is strongly enhanced at various temperatures and magnetic fields up to 5 T. The enhancement is larger at low temperatures compared to high temperatures. This difference is discussed in terms of the defect structure. Our investigations on YBCO superconductors also show a similar behavior. But the critical current density enhancement with neutron irradiation is smaller in this system compared to SmBaCuO system. Possible reasons for this difference are also discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.