Fabrication of large grain YBCO by seeded peritectic solidification

The ability to process large grain, uniform high temperature superconducting ceramics that exhibit high critical current densities at 77 K is essential if the enormous potential of these materials for a range of permanent magnet-type applications is to be realized. We report a study of the fabrication of large grain YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ by seeded peritectic solidification in which key processing parameters such as the peritectic melting process, the seed-YBCO reaction, and the YBCO solidification kinetics are investigated in detail. Evolution of the sample microstructure during various stages of the growth process, in particular, has been studied extensively. The superconducting properties of specimens cut from different regions of large grain samples have been measured using vibrating sample magnetometry, and the results correlated with the microstructure of the materials.