Growth mechanism and morphology of melt-texture-growth-processed YBa2Cu3O7−x with different presintered microstructures

Abstract

This work deals with the influence of the starting Y-123 grain size on the growth mechanism and final microstructure of the melt-textured YBa2Cu3O7−x ceramics. Observations of the growth front morphology and stability for the different precursors using several decomposition temperatures are correlated with the theoretical equations. It is found that the final 211 inclusion size increases as the starting 123 grain size increases. However, using a small-grained 123 precursor disrupts the growth front and makes the control of grain alignment difficult. An appropriate morphology of the 123 precursor should be chosen prior to the MTG process in order to obtain the best properties.