EFFECTS OF ZRO2 ON THE TEXTURING AND PROPERTIES OF MELT-PROCESSED Y1BA2CU3O7-DELTA

Abstract

The addition of ZrO2 is found to be very effective as the nucleation sites to promote the oriented growth of Y1Ba2Cu3O7-delta (YBCO) during peritectic solidification. Extended regions of well-textured YBCO grains with superior superconducting properties of the YBCO bulk are readily obtained by a single-step melt process at much lower process temperatures. At 77 K, the platelike Josephson weak-link behaviors observed in pure melt-processed YBCO have been effectively eliminated, indicating that the coherency between the spherulitic superconducting YBCO grains may have been greatly improved by ZrO2 additions.