Directional solidification of bulk (Y,Sm,Nd)/sub 1/Ba/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-x/

Rare Earth (Nd,Sm) elements, having relatively large ionic radius, have been substituted for Yttrium in Y123 superconducting melt textured bulk samples. In (Nd,Sm)123 a wider solidification range and higher recrystallization rate than Y123 significantly increase the solidification rate, making the whole process much faster. A preliminary comparison among directionally solidified (Y,Sm,Nd)/sub 1/Ba/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-x/ bulk bars fabricated by the Horizontal Bridgman method has been done. The different microstructural and superconducting features are studied by X-ray, SEM analysis, and ac and dc magnetic measurements. The (Nd,Sm)123 samples, appear comparable to Y123 grown with a pulling rate almost two orders of magnitude lower.