Tailoring columnar defects landscape to enhance vortex pinning in commercial REBCO tapes via high-energy ion irradiation

High-energy ion irradiation offers a promising route to engineer columnar vortex pinning landscapes in REBCO coated conductors, yet the relationship among electronic energy loss (S_e), defect geometric characteristics and pinning mechanism remains insufficiently resolved. Here, GdBCO coated conductors were irradiated with 50 MeV and 80 MeV Xe ions to establish a consecutive S_e window of ∼21-10 keV/nm within the superconducting layer. By combining SRIM simulations, multiscale microstructural characterization, and magnetic measurements, we directly correlate S_e attenuation along the ion trajectory with a morphological evolution from continuous columnar defects (CDs) to segmented CDs and finally to spherical defects. Continuous CDs generated at higher S_e create strong c-axis correlated pinning and improve high-field critical current density (J_c) retention, but excessive fluence promotes track overlap and severe lattice disorder, leading to degradation of critical transition temperature (T_c) and low-field J_c. In contrast, segmented CDs formed at moderate S_e preserve superconducting percolation pathways while retaining effective correlated pinning. Quantitative analysis of CD segment length and inter-segment gap size, combined with a half-loop depinning model, demonstrates that defect geometry directly governs vortex depinning. This geometry-controlled pinning mechanism explains the broader high-field and high-temperature optimization window enabled by segmented-CD landscapes. These results establish energy-loss-mediated defect engineering as an effective strategy to optimize commercial REBCO tapes for targeted application requirements.