A comparative study of different processing methods and microwave surface conductivity of 1-2-3 superconducting ceramics

Superconducting YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 6+x/ samples were made from powders prepared by different routes: solid state reaction, amorphous citrate and Pechini method. The powders produced by solid state reaction were milled to different degrees, calcined and sintered. Samples were also hot pressed at 875 C and subsequently annealed at different temperatures to regain the superconducting phase. In order to compare the amount of residual carbonate in the final materials prepared by solid state and liquid mix methods, XPS spectra were taken on as calcined powder and on material sintered at different temperatures. To our surprise, the amount of carbonate was quite small in both the methods, but this amount increased with sintering temperature. The microwave surface conductivity of 1-2-3 superconducting material was measured in a disk resonator configuration. At liquid nitrogen temperatures the microwave conductivity was comparable to that of gold and improved with decreasing temperature. At --10K the conductivity was two orders of magnitude greater than that of gold at the same temperature. The surface conductivity of samples obtained by Pechini method was much better than that obtained by solid state method