Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

From meandering to straight grain boundaries: Improving the structures of artificially induced grain boundaries in superconducting YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub y} bicrystals

Journal Article · · Journal of Materials Research
; ;  [1]
  1. Materials Science Division and Science and Technology Center for Superconductivity, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)

This paper presents several key aspects of our approach to preparing artificially induced [001] tilt grain boundaries (GB{close_quote}s) with uniform, well-defined structures in YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub y} (YBCO) superconductors. GB structures formed in thin film and bulk bicrystals, respectively, will be compared. In YBCO thin film bicrystals, meandering rather than planar GB{close_quote}s are formed. Using a low film deposition rate has been demonstrated to reduce the magnitude of meander significantly, but complete elimination of the meander has not yet been accomplished. Thus, we have developed a dual-seeded-melt-texture process to produce uniform, planar GB{close_quote}s with controllable misorientation angles in YBCO bulk bicrystals. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies reveal a remarkably planar and simple configuration on different length scales. Such a simple structure allows for an insightful interpretation of transport behavior across individual GB{close_quote}s. {copyright} {ital 1997 Materials Research Society.}

DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
573763
Journal Information:
Journal of Materials Research, Journal Name: Journal of Materials Research Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 12; ISSN JMREEE; ISSN 0884-2914
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English