Hot seeding for the growth of c-axis-oriented Nd-Ba-Cu-O

The fabrication of large single-grain RE-Ba-Cu-O (RE denotes rare earth ele ments) is essential for bulk applications. In the present study, we report on a hot-seeding method for growing Nd-Ba-Cu-O with Nd123 seed crystals. We made an arrangement, in which the Nd123 seed crystal can be transported to the centre of the furnace with a rod through a hole in a rubber cork and i nsulating stopper. The seed was placed in a small dip made in the rod, whic h can be turned to drop the seed on the sample. The advantage of this metho d is that perturbation in the growth conditions such as temperature and oxy gen partial pressure can be minimized. Using this method we could grow larg e single-domain c-axis-oriented samples with the surface area larger than 3 cm x 3 cm.