TY - JOUR A1 - Cubero, A. A1 - Martínez, E. A1 - Angurel, L.A. A1 - de la Fuente, G.F. A1 - Navarro, R. A1 - Legall, Herbert A1 - Krüger, Jörg A1 - Bonse, Jörn T1 - Surface superconductivity changes of niobium sheets by femtosecond laser-induced periodic nanostructures N2 - Irradiation with ultra-short (femtosecond) laser beams enables the generation of sub-wavelength laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) over large areas with controlled spatial periodicity, orientation, and depths affecting only a material layer on the sub-micrometer scale. This study reports on how fs-laser irradiation of commercially available Nb foil samples affects their superconducting behavior. DC magnetization and AC susceptibility measurements at cryogenic temperatures and with magnetic fields of different amplitude and orientation are thus analyzed and reported. This study pays special attention to the surface superconducting layer that persists above the upper critical magnetic field strength Hc2, and disappears at a higher nucleation field strength Hc3. Characteristic changes were distinguished between the surface properties of the laser-irradiated samples, as compared to the corresponding reference samples (non-irradiated). Clear correlations have been observed between the surface nanostructures and the nucleation field Hc3, which depends on the relative orientation of the magnetic field and the surface patterns developed by the laser irradiation. KW - Niobium KW - Surface superconductivity KW - Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) KW - Nanostructures PY - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-518462 SN - 2079-4991 VL - 10(12) IS - Special issue "Laser-generated periodic nanostructures" SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-51846 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cubero, A. A1 - Martínez, E. A1 - Angurel, L.A. A1 - de la Fuente, G.F. A1 - Navarro, R. A1 - Legall, Herbert A1 - Krüger, Jörg A1 - Bonse, Jörn T1 - Effects of laser-induced periodic surface structures on the superconducting properties of Niobium N2 - It is well known that the use of ultrashort (fs) pulsed lasers can induce the generation of (quasi-) periodic nanostructures (LIPSS, ripples) on the surface of many materials. Such nanostructures have also been observed in sample’s surfaces irradiated with UV lasers with a pulse duration of 300 ps. In this work, we compare the characteristics of these nanostructures on 1-mm and on 25-μm thick niobium sheets induced by 30 fs n-IR and 300 ps UV pulsed lasers. In addition to conventional continuous or burst mode processing configurations, two-dimensional laser beam and line scanning modes have been investigated in this work. The latter allows the processing of large areas with a more uniform distribution of nanostructures at the surface. The influence of the generated nanostructures on the superconducting properties of niobium has also been explored. For this aim, magnetic hysteresis loops have been measured at different cryogenic temperatures to analyse how these laser treatments affect the flux pinning behaviour and, in consequence, the superconductor’s critical current values. It was observed that laser treatments are able to modify the superconducting properties of niobium samples. T2 - E-MRS Spring Meeting 2019 CY - Nice, France DA - 27.05.2019 KW - Superconductivity KW - Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) KW - Niobium PY - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-502541 SN - 0169-4332 SN - 1873-5584 VL - 508 IS - 1 SP - 145140-1 EP - 145140-7 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50254 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -