Research on the application and flux pinning of practical high-temperature superconductors

Superconducting materials exhibit the zero-resistance effect, the Meissner effect, and the quantum tunneling effect (Josephson effect). Therefore, they possess profound practical significance and immense developmental prospects in diverse domains, such as electric power, healthcare, transportation, quantum computing, energy, national defense and scientific experimentation. The critical current density ( J c ) serves as the fundamental metric for evaluating the current carrying performance of superconducting materials in practical applications, which is predominantly influenced by three factors, namely the intrinsic physical properties, intergranular connectivity, and flux pinning performance. Among them, the flux pinning performance is the significant parameter of superconducting materials to determine the current carrying capacity under magnetic field. Therefore, the enhancement of flux pinning properties has become a central focus in contemporary superconducting research. This review briefly introduced the theoretical foundations of flux pinning mechanisms in superconducting materials. Furthermore, a comparative analysis was conducted on the introduction technologies of artificial pinning centers, including particle irradiation, elemental doping and second-phase particle embedding, across high-temperature superconducting material of BSCCO, REBCO, MgB 2 , and iron-based superconductors. Finally, the prospects for the enhancement strategies of flux pinning in practical high-temperature superconducting materials were discussed.