Position dependence of superconducting properties of large single domain Sm-Ba-Cu-O bulk superconductors prepared under various conditions

We investigated the position dependence of superconducting properties of c-axis oriented large single domain Sm-Ba-Cu-O (SmBCO) bulk superconductors, which have been successfully fabricated with the oxygen controlled melt growth method using Nd-Ba-Cu-O as a seed crystal under various conditions. The superconducting properties of small specimens cut from the large single domain SmBCO strongly depend on their location and Tc is always lower under the seed crystal than that near the edge of the sample. To enhance the homogeneity of the bulk superconductor, we have studied the effect of the maximum temperature (Tmax) and the holding time (th) during partial melting. It was found that the variation of the superconducting properties with position can be greatly reduced with higher Tmax and/or longer th