Nanoparticulate Flux Pinning Centers for YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$ O$_{7-\delta}$ Films

YBa
₂
Cu
₃
O
_7-delta
high temperature superconductors can maintain fairly high critical current densities (J
_c
) with increasing magnetic field. This in-field performance can be further improved upon by incorporating nanoparticulate magnetic flux pinning centers into the superconductors. This short paper briefly discusses and compares recent efforts by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to incorporate insulating nanoparticles into the YBCO superconducting thin films by pulsed laser deposition.