A Novel Configuration for Infiltration and Growth of Single‐Domain Gd–Ba–Cu–O Bulk Superconductor

Abstract

A novel configuration was developed and then used for infiltration and growth (IG) of single‐domain Gd–Ba–Cu–O (GdBCO) bulk superconductor. The morphology, microstructure, and superconducting property of the GdBCO product were investigated. It is found that, the novel configuration can increase the stability of the sample during the IG process at high temperature, and can also contribute to the complete growth of the whole bulk. The results are helpful to increase the stability and repeatability of the experiments.

Flux Pinning Properties of Single-Grain Bulk GdBCO Superconductors Processed by Different Thicknesses of Y123 Liquid Source

“…Figure 1 shows the appearance of a GdBCO superconductor bulk growth with the addition of a Y123 liquid source with different thicknesses: S0, S3, S5 and S7, respectively. It can be seen that the Nd123 crystal seed was intact, no melting phenomenon occurred during the growth in the bulk, and the seed fully exerted the role of guiding growth [ 7 , 8 ]. Four folded growth sectors were clearly observed, with no obvious random nucleation.…”

“…If the Y123 liquid source is supported, the size of GdBCO bulks is 22 mm instead of 21 mm in the GdBCO bulk without Y123 liquid source, as shown in Figure 1 . In order to achieve the RE 3+ ion concentration required for Gd123 growth, Gd211 particles in the liquid source need a large degree of self-decomposition to diffuse Gd 3+ ions to the Gd123 growth front [ 7 ]. Therefore, Gd211 particles should exhibit more obvious refinement and homogenous with the addition of a Y123 liquid source with a thickness of 3 mm.…”

“…Compared with the conventional top-seeded melt texture growth (TSMG) method of fabricating single-domain REBCO bulks, the top seeded infiltration and growth (TSIG) process could overcome problems such as shape distortion, shrinkage of the final sample and leakage of the Ba 3 Cu 5 O 8 liquid phase, etc. [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. The Murakami group successfully fabricated single-grain bulk (Gd, Dy) BCO superconductor bulk with an optimization of liquid phase mass using the TSIG technique.…”

A Coated Infiltration Growth Technique for Fabricating Single‐Grain Y–Ba–Cu–O Bulk Superconductor

“…For overcoming this disadvantage, a novel configuration has been proposed in our previous study, in which the liquid source pellet with larger diameter was used for the infiltration and growth of smaller REBCO bulk sample, as shown in Fig. (a).…”

Infiltration growth of Mg-doped Nd–Ba–Cu–O seed crystals for the fabrication of large grain RE–Ba–Cu–O bulk superconductors

“…The IG technique has been proved to be an effective way to prepare large REBCO bulks, and has attracted more and more attention recently because of its advantages compared with the MG method, such as fewer pores and cracks, negligible shrinkage and distortion in the final product, and especially the ability to provide fine-sized spherical RE 2 BaCuO 5 (RE-211) inclusions in the REBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−x (RE-123) matrix, which bring significant improvement in current density [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Moreover, in our recent studies, we improved this technique via modification of the liquid source composition and the pellet configuration pattern, in order to simplify the process flow and enhance the experimental stability [28][29][30].…”