Texture growth processing of HTSC in the Y-Ba-Cu-O system

Texture growth process has been applied to high Tc superconductor. YBa2Cu3O7-x formed by plasma spraying or cold pressing and sintering. For example, the plasma-sprayed deposited (free from substrate) were partially melted through a zone heating apparatus. On the surfaces of the deposits, the aligned grains are parallel to the zone moving direction, and they exhibit a strong preferred orientation in the [00 ell] direction. The critical current density was measured to be in excess of 5 x 103 A/cm2 in an applied field of 1 to 2 Tesla at 77K, using f four-probe method with continuous direct current. The microstructure and superconducting properties of the deposits and the sprayed thick films (on substrate), as well as the sintered bulk material are not identical. In this paper the differences between these materials are compared and discussed