Single crystal growth and characterization of superconducting PbSr(Y,Ca)CuO

Abstract Single crystals of Pb 2 Sr 2 (Y 1−x Ca x )Cu 3 O 8+ δ (PSYCCO) have been grown from PbO KCl flux in an atmosphere of 3% O 2 in N 2 . A temperature gradient in the crucible is necessary to get crystals of PSYCCO with reproducible sizes of more than 2 × 2 × 1 mm 3 . Neutron diffraction experiments, high resolution EDX and high resolution transmission electron microscopy confirm a low mosaicity without any crystal defects, well defined lattice constants and a good cation homogeneity.