MgO buffer-layer-induced texture growth of RE–Ba–Cu–O bulk

Abstract

A novel cold-seeding approach of top-seeded melt growth of RE–Ba–Cu–O bulk was studied by employing a MgO crystal seed and a buffer pellet. The growth process is divided into two steps. The MgO seed is used to texture-grow the small RE–Ba–Cu–O pellet with high melting point (Tp) and the textured pellet induces the texture growth of the bulk at lower temperature. Undercooling and RE211 content of the pellet are adjusted to avoid the misorientation caused by lattice mismatch between MgO and the RE–Ba–Cu–O matrix. Bulk samples prepared with this method show good growth sections and superconducting performance. One of the promising advantages of this method is to process high Tp RE–Ba–Cu–O bulks with a cold-seeding method, for example Nd–Ba–Cu–O bulk.