Melt-texture joining of YBa₂Cu₃O_<i>y</i>bulks

Abstract

Practical applications of high-temperature superconductors require long length and complex shapes of the textured ceramic material. The limitation of processing the REBa2Cu3Oy (RE-123, RE = Y, Sm, Nd, etc) superconductors in desired designs requires the development of joining techniques. In this paper we report on various attempts to join sections cut from single-domain YBa2Cu3Oy (Y-123) monoliths. The lower peritectic temperature rare earth Yb-123 compounds were used as solder for melt texturing at the interface for joining. The various factors influencing the formation of defect structures during the growth of the solder phase have been investigated. Transport current measurements across the joints of the samples and also of a typical configuration of a brick wall structure prepared under optimized conditions are presented.