Texture development in Ba/sub 2/YCu/sub 3/O/sub 6+X/ through sinter-forging

A technique known as sinter-forging has been used to achieve crystallographic orientation in Ba/sub 2/YCu/sub 3/O/sub 6+x/. The grains are elongated perpendicular to the applied stress direction, with the c-axis oriented approximately parallel to the applied stress direction. The sinter-forged material exhibits superconductivity, according to Ac magnetic susceptibility measurements, with an onset of 92K. Magnetization measurements show an anisotropy in the critical current density of 2:1, being higher for currents in the basal planes. The transport critical current density is less than 100 A/cm/sup 2/ in all cases, with some samples having zero critical current density. These results led to the conclusion that the sinter-forged material consisted of isolated superconducting grains, or collections of grains. This hypothesis was supported by a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study, which revealed the presence of non-superconducting phases at many of the grain boundaries