FABRICATION, PROCESSING AND PROPERTIES OF TL-1223 CONDUCTORS

Fabrication of Tl-1223 conductors in two geometries is reported, Powde r-in-tube (PIT) tapes were fabricated using aerosol generated precurso r powders mixed with Tl2O3. Effect of processing variables such as tem perature, time and uniaxial pressure were studied, Under optimum proce ssing conditions the tapes have sharp transitions (widths similar to 1 K) and zero-field J(c) similar to 0.9x10(4)A/cm(2) at 77K. However the taper lack any detectable grain orientation texture and are severely weak-linked, On the other hand, thick films (3-30 mu m) of Tl-1223 on Ag made using a variety of precursor deposition techniques followed by thallination in a two-zone flow reactor, show significantly reduced w eak-link behavior and high zero-field J(c)'s (>10(4)A/cm(2)), It is fo und that these films are c-axis aligned (rocking curve FWHM similar to 3-11 degrees) and also possess varying degrees of Local in-plane text ure, Microstructural development in these thick films is found to be s imilar to that observed previously for films on polycrystalline YSZ, S uch thick films present a working model of a practical Tl-1223 conduct or.