Unlike Y123 which forms only a stoichiometric compound, the light rare earth elements (LREs: La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd) form a solid solution LRE 1+x Ba 2−x Cu 3 O y . The presence of such solid solution caused a depression in the superconducting transition temperatures (T c ), particularly for La123, Nd123 and Sm123 when they are melt processed in air. Recently, we have found that the T c of these LRE123 superconductors can greatly be enhanced when they are melt processed in a reduced oxygen atmosphere. Furthermore, J c values of these superconductors were larger than that of a good quality Y123 superconductor in high magnetic fields at 77 K. In this article, on the basis of our study over the last several years, the melt processes for LRE-Ba-Cu-O are described, the microstructural and superconducting properties of the superconductors are reviewed and the flux pinning mechanism is also discussed.

A reduced oxygen atmosphere during melt processing turned out to be critical for the fabrication of NdBa2Cu3Oy (Nd123) superconductors possessing high superconducting transition temperature (Tc) with a sharp transition and large critical current density (Jc) at 77 K. In a dc magnetization measurement, Nd123 superconductors melt processed in flowing a mixture gas of 1% O2 in Ar exhibited the Tc of about 95 K and the transition width of 1.5 K with the applied field of 10 Oe. A four-probe measurement showed the zero resistive transition Tc (R=0) of about 95 K. An anomalous peak effect in the magnetization hysteresis (M-H) loops was commonly observed and lead to large magnetic Jc of 2×104 A/cm2 at 77 K and 2 T for the applied field H parallel to the c axis of a sample (H∥c). This achievement is attributable to a preferential formation of high Tc phase (x<0.1) among the Nd1+xBa2−xCu3Oy solid solutions in a reduced oxygen atmosphere.

REBa2Cu3O y superconductors with rare earth (RE) ions with large radii (RE: La, Nd, Sm) exhibit relatively low T c due to the presence of RE-Ba solid solution. We have found that this solid solution can be suppressed if these superconductors are melt processed in a reduced oxygen atmosphere. We have also found that critical current densities of these superconductors are higher than those of melt processed YBa2Cu3O y with fine Y2BaCuO5 inclusions in a high field region. The irreversibility line was also shifted toward the higher H-T region. We believe that flux pinning in these superconductors is ascribable to a finely distributed RE(Ba1- x , RE x )2Cu3O y phase in a good superconductive matrix.

We fabricated a single-domain Gd–Ba–Cu–O bulk superconductor 65 mm in diameter and studied the microstructure, superconducting and field-trapping properties. Melt-processing was performed under a controlled oxygen partial pressure of 1.0% using a precursor containing Gd123 and Gd211 powders in a molar ratio of 2:1, with 0.5 wt% of Pt and 20 wt% of Ag2O added. The distribution of Ag and Gd211 particles was almost homogeneous. The addition of Ag was very effective in reducing the amount of cracking in the sample. The maximum trapped magnetic field recorded was 3.05 T at 77 K. We also measured the trapped field between two Gd–Ba–Cu–O bulk samples in order to minimize the demagnetizing effect and found that the trapped field reached 4.3 T at 77 K.

We report on a new type of correlated nanometer-scale pinning structure observed in a melt-processed (Nd0.33Eu0.38Gd0.28)Ba(2)Cu(3)O(y) (NEG-123). It consists of NEG/Ba-rich clusters in the stoichiometric NEG-123 matrix forming a lamellar array with a period of a few nanometers. These lamellas appear within regular twins, thus representing their fine substructure-sometimes straight, sometimes wavy. This new material structure correlates well with the significant enhancement of pinning at high fields, represented by irreversibility field above 14 T at 77 K (B parallel c). We believe that the new pinning medium enables one to significantly broaden the limits for high-field applications.