| The starting composition and structure of YBa2Cu3O 7−1 (Y123) ceramic powder with excess Y2BaCuO 5 is shown to be very important to successful processing of large single domain bulk Y123 material. Besides composition and structure it is shown that the setter and the setup of the setter are essential for the elimination of liquid loss and a key ingredient in the Robust Processing Method (RPM). The RPM was used to examine the effect on processing of high Erbium (Er) additions (60 mol/percent) to YBa2Cu3O7−1. The effect on microstructure, and the superconducting properties of the resulting material were also examined. The superconducting properties that were examined were the bulk-trapped magnetic field, the Critical Transition Temperature (Tc) and the Critical Current (Jc) in a changing applied magnetic field. The bulk-trapped fields were found to be unimproved due to decomposition of the SmBa2Cu3O7−1 (Sm123) seed during processing which causes sporadic crystallization during the growth cycle. Tc's of the textured resulting material were found to be relatively unaffected when compared to unadulterated Y123, while Jc's were found to increase with accelerated processing rate when compared to unadulterated Y123. |
