Potential for improvement of pinning properties for REBCO melt-textured bulks by high energy electron irradiation

In order to investigate the potential for the increase in pinning properties for REBCO melt-textured bulks, high-energy electron irradiation (35 MeV) was performed to sample pieces with various RE/Ba substitution levels. Critical current density was drastically enhanced especially in low magnetic fields by the irradiation. It was indicated that the increase in pinning force is larger for samples with lower RE/Ba substitution level possibly due to their larger superconducting condensation energy of the RE123 crystal.