  Enhancement of flux pinning by magnetic nanoparticles embedded into the bulk
of type-2 superconductor is studied both theoretically and experimentally.
Magnetic part of the pinning force associated with the interaction between a
spherical magnetic inclusion and an Abrikosov vortex was calculated in the
London approximation. Calculations are supported by the experimental results
obtained on sonochemically modified MgB2 superconductor with embedded magnetic
Fe2O3 nanoparticles and compared to MgB2 with nonmagnetic Mo2O5 pinning centers
of similar concentration and particle size distribution. It is shown that
ferromagnetic nanoparticles result in a considerable enhancement of vortex
pinning in large-kappa type-2 superconductors.
