Preparation of doped precursor powders for the fabrication of large grain high temperature superconductors

Large single grain RE-Ba-Cu-O (RE=Y, Nd) high temperature superconductors have been fabricated using a top-seeded melt growth process. These grains have been prepared using powder produced by two solution-based techniques; spray-drying and evaporative decomposition of solution (EDS). The use of these solution-based methods enables the effective addition of small amounts of dopant (such as Pt and Au) to the precursor powder. The dopant refines the size and distribution of non-superconducting phases in the RE-Ba-Cu-O matrix, which is considered essential for obtaining a high critical current density.