Fabrication and Properties of Long (Y, Ho)-Ba-Cu-O Rods Prepared by Unidirectional Solidification Technique

Unidirectional solidification was used to enhance the grain alignment and critical current density (Jc) of (Y,Ho)-Ba-Cu-O samples. The composition of the samples used in this study was YBa2Cu3Oy: Ho2BaCuO5: BaSnO3: Ag with a molar ratio of 3: 2: 1: 0.1, respectively. Solidifying parameters involving the maximum temperature of furnace and growing rate, were varied from 1000 to 1080°C and 1 to 7mm/h, maintaining a temperature gradient of approximately 180°C/cm at 980°C. Optimizing these conditions produced highly c-axes aligned, textured samples. Samples with cross sectional area of 0.055cm2 and length of 77mm had Jc values, greater than 9.1×103A/cm2 (IC>500A,77K,0T).