Microstructural effects on superconducting properties of sintered YBa2Cu3O7−x wires

Abstract Microstructural effects on the superconducting properties of extruded wires were studied. The most important factors controlling microstructure are the binder system, its removal conditions, and the sintering conditions — temperature, heating rate, duration, and annealing in oxygen. The transport J c of 1500 A/cm 2 has been achieved under optimized processing conditions. A new technique that uses aligned grains as seeds and the eutectic phase of BaCuO 2 and CuO as a low melting flux was explored as a way to achieve oriented microstructures. Properties of these wires are presented and discussed.