The effect of temperature gradient on the morphology of YBCO bulk superconductors by melt texture growth processing

The effects of lateral temperature gradient (TG) on the macrostructure and levitation force of YBCO bulk superconductors have been investigated. The results indicate that a positive lateral TG is more effective to depress the randomly nucleation of Y123 grain number. The levitation force of samples fabricated in this kind of furnace is about 2.5 times higher than that of samples fabricated in furnace without a positive lateral TG. A single domain YBCO bulk (ϕ30 mm) with levitation force of 94 N has been fabricated.