Joining of Melt-Processed RE-Ba-Cu-O Superconductor

The melt-processed Y-Ba-Cu-O superconducting bulks were jointed using a Yb-Ba-Cu-O superconducting solder having a lower peritectic temperature than that of the YBCO matrix. Generally, the Yb-Ba-Cu-O superconducting solders were sandwiched between Y-Ba-Cu-O superconducting bulks. The problems of this sandwich soldering were the segregation of RE211 particles and voids formed at the final solidified regions that might interrupt the current flow through the jointed region. In this paper, we discussed the solidification behavior in this sandwich-soldering region for understanding the formation of these non-superconducting phases at the final solidification regions.