Microstructural and magnetic properties of textured GdBa2Cu3Oy/Gd2BaCuO5 composites fabricated from Gd2BaCuO5 preforms

Bulk GdBa2Cu3Oy superconductors with uniformly distributed inclusions of mi cron-sized Gd2BaCuO5 (211) have been prepared by the infiltration and textu ring of pre-shaped porous 211 preforms with liquid phases in a high purity Ar atmosphere. The microstructural features at various stages of processing with particular emphasis on the nature of the 211 inclusions are studied. The superconducting properties like the transition temperature and critical current densities of the resulting composites are discussed. (C) 1999 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.