A new model analysis of the third harmonic voltage in inductive measurement for critical current density of superconducting films

The critical current density Jc is one of the most important parameters of high temperature superconducting films in superconducting applications, such as superconducting filter and superconducting Josephson devices. This paper presents a new model to describe inhomogeneous current distribution throughout the thickness of superconducting films applying magnetic field by solving the differential equation derived from Maxwell equation and the second London equation. Using this model, it accurately calculates the inductive third-harmonic voltage when the film applying magnetic field with the inductive measurement for Jc. The theoretic curve is consistent with the experimental results about measuring superconducting film, especially when the third-harmonic voltage just exceeds zero. The Jc value of superconducting films determined by the inductive method is also compared with results measured by four-probe transport method. The agreements between inductive method and transport method are very good.