EFFECTS OF THE ND4BA2CU2OY PHASE ON TEXTURING AND PROPERTIES OF MELT-TEXTURED NDBA2CU3OY

A series of melt-textured NdBa2Cu3Oy bulks with controlled amount of N d4Ba2Cu2Oy additions has been fabricated by the newly developed techno logy. The optimal formation temperature increases with increasing the amount of Nd4Ba2Cu2Oy addition. Also a remarkable enhancement of the m agnetic levitation force is induced by Nd4Ba2Cu2Oy addition. The optim al amount of Nd4Ba2Cu2Oy can be expressed as Nd4Ba2Cu3Oy + 0.4Nd(4)Ba( 2)Cu(2)O(y). SEM studies show that microcracks in the bulks can be eff ectively reduced by Nd4Ba2Cu2Oy particles. The enhancement of the magn etic levitation force is attributed to the suppression of weak links i n grains. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.