Direct observation of long-term durability of superconductivity in YBa2Cu3O7-Ag2O composites

Abstract

We report direct observation of long-term durability of superconductivity of several YBa2Cu3O7-Ag2O composites that were first prepared and studied almost fourteen years ago [J. J. Lin et al.: Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 29 (1990) 497]. Remeasurements performed recently on both resistances and magnetizations indicate a sharp critical transition temperature at 91 K. We also find that such long-term environmental stability of high-temperature superconductivity can only be achieved in YBa2Cu3O7 with Ag2O addition, but not with pure Ag addition.