Perforated monodomain YBa2Cu3O7−x bulk superconductors prepared by infiltration-growth process

Improvement of Critical Current Density and Flux Trapping in Bulk High-Tc Superconductors

“…Another unique aspect concerning flux trapping is to distribute holes drilled within the bulk pack. The recently reported [41][42][43][44][45] hole-patterned YBa2Cu3Oy (Y123) bulks with improved superconducting properties are highly interesting from the points of view of material quality and their variety of application. It is well known that the core of plain bulk superconductors needs to be fully oxygenated, and some defects like cracks, pores and voids [46,47] must be suppressed in order that the material can trap a high magnetic field or else carry a high current density.…”

“…To minimize the above defects, we propose the improvement of the superconducting material with an innovative approach -"material by design" based on the concept of a YBa2Cu3Oy (Y123) bulk with multiple holes. The details of the multiple holes process of YBa2Cu3Oy (Y123) are reported elsewhere [41,42]. Basically, the holes in the pre-sintered bulk were realized by drilling cylindrical cavities with different diameters, 0.5-2 mm through the circular or square shaped sample.…”

“…For the plain sample, a large porosity and crack zones are noticeable. Scanning Electron Microscopy between two holes shows (i) the compact, crack-free microstructure and (ii) a uniform distribution of fine Y211 particles into the Y123 matrix [41]. (Fig.…”

Real-Time Observation and Analysis of Single-Domain YBCO Bulk Superconductor by TSIG Process

“…High levitation force and auto-stabilized levitation of REBCO bulk superconductors make it possible for various applications, such as high-field permanent magnets, magnetic bearing, flywheel, levitated transportation systems, motors, and generators. These applications are based on the quality of the superconductors, now single domain REBCO bulk superconductors can be fabricated by top-seeded melt growth (TSMG) method − and top-seeded infiltration growth (TSIG) process − in many laboratories. But it is still difficult to fabricate larger (such as 80 mm in diameters) samples with a single domain up to the whole volume because of the competition between the growth of single domain REBCO bulk from the seed and the random nucleation of other grains in the rest of the samples, if the temperature window for the growth of YBCO bulks and the cooling rate in this range is not designed scientifically.…”

Fabrication of single-grain GdBa2Cu3O7−x bulk superconductors with a new kind of liquid source by the top seeded infiltration and growth technique

“…However, bulk superconductors made by conventional melt processes have some common problems, such as the presence of pores and macrocracks, heavy loss of Ba-Cu-O liquid, distortion and shrinkage of the final samples etc. To overcome these problems, a new technique based on infiltration and growth (IG) has been developed by various laboratories in recent years [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. An important feature of the IG process is that it can be used to fabricate large samples of near-net shape without distortion or macrocracks.…”