Effect of carbon on the microstructure and superconducting properties of YBa2Cu3O7−x melt-textured crystals

Abstract

YBa2Cu3O7−x (123) high-temperature superconducting powders were synthesized by mixing cost effective Y2O3, CuO and BaCO3 precursor powders and subsequently reacting them at 920 °C in a rotary calciner. The effects of carbon on the critical temperature (Tc), critical current density (Jc), trapped field as well as the growth of melt-textured 123 crystals were examined as a function of the extent of calcination. Increasing carbon content in the sample resulted in lower Tc and zero field Jc, however, high field Jc were improved showing a ‘fishtail’ effect at 77 K. In addition, the nucleation and growth process of 123 crystals was not affected by the carbon content, but highly porous microstructures were obtained with increasing amounts of carbon.

Department(s)

Materials Science and Engineering

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2026 IOP Publishing, All rights reserved

Publication Date

2002-05-01

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