Patent ID: 7491678

Claim:
A superconducting thin film structure having columnar pinning centers and comprising: a substrate, nano dots or nano stripes which are formed insularly on the substrate and three-dimensionally in shape, said nano dots or nano stripes comprising a material selected from the group consisting of Ag, Mg and Zn, amorphous or non-superconducting columnar defects composed of a superconducting material and grown on said nano dots or nano stripes, respectively, and a superconducting thin film composed of said superconducting material formed in those areas on said substrate which are other than those where said columnar defects are formed; wherein said substrate is a substrate of SrTiO 3 , MgO or Al 2 O 3 , or a substrate having a buffer layer of CeO 2 formed thereon; and said superconducting thin film is a superconducting thin film that can be expressed by composition formula: (Cu 1−x Tl x )Ba 1−y Sr y Ca 2 Cu 3 O z where 0≦x≦1, 0≦y≦1, and 0<z.