BIAXIAL ALIGNMENT OF HIGH-T-C SUPERCONDUCTOR POLYCRYSTALS .8. PHI-CIRCLE SCAN ANALYSIS OF EUBA2CU3O7-DELTA (EU-123)

To reduce grain boundary weak links due to large-angle grain orientati on mismatch, bulk (thick film) EuBa2Cu3O7-delta high-T-c superconducto r specimens were biaxially aligned by a mechanical force such that the ir [001] axes were perpendicular to the specimen surfaces and by a mag netic force so as to orient their [010] axes to lie parallel to the ma gnetic field direction in the specimen plane. We describe here the cha racterization of such EuBa2Cu3O7-delta thick films by phi-circle XRD s cans of (013) reflections, demonstrating a high degree (33%) of c-axis alignment with FWHM of <5 degrees and approximately Gaussian distribu tions of a, b-axis alignment with a FWHM of 47 degrees. The formation of ''granular single crystals'', toward which this work is a further a dvance, can be seen as establishing a new paradigm in ceramics science .