Process Technology and Superconducting Properties of Bulk HTS With Multi-RE Elements

A series of REBa
₂
Cu
₃
O
_y
(RE123)/Ag bulk superconductors with multi-RE elements at the RE site, were prepared by top-seeded melt growth. By employing the differential thermal analysis, we carefully adjusted the peritectic decomposition temperature (
T
_p
) by changing the ratio of the two RE123 compositions to meet the requirements of the cold-seeding process. The superconducting properties,
T
_c
,
J
_c
and the flux trapping performance were evaluated after achieving the growth of the single grains. The microstructure was also observed. A relatively low growth temperature range depressed the LRE-Ba substitution, which was effective to suppress the probable RE211 coarsening. By employing ZrO
₂
chemical doping, the flux pinning property was further improved under both zero-field and in-field, and the
J
_c
was enhanced without reducing
T
_c
.