Effect of oxide additions on the properties of plasma-sprayed Y-Ba-Cu-O coatings

Plasma-spraying is a potential technique for forming flexible tapes from the brittle highT c oxides. It is possible to obtain superconducting YBa2Cu3O x coatings by a suitable heat-treatment after spraying. In an effort to improve the critical current densities of the coatings, the effect of additions of Ag2O, Bi2O3 and SnO2 to the YBa2Cu3O x powder used for spraying was studied. The maximumJ c value of 75 A/cm2 was obtained for the sample doped with 5% SnO2.