TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURE OF HIGH JcYBa2Cu3Ox SUPERCONDUCTOR

Melt-textured growth of polycrystalline YBa 2 Cu 3 O x superconductor using directional solidification created a compact texture consisting of large plate-shaped crystals aligned preferentially parallel to the a – b conduction plane and many ordered parallel growth steps perpendicular to the growth direction of the YBa 2 Cu 3 O x crystal. The new microstructure, which completely substitutes the previous granular and random structure in the sintered bulk materials, exhibits significantly enhanced transport J c values of 23800 A/cm 2 at 77 K and in a H = 2 Tesla field.