Hot-seeding melt growth of large (Sm-Eu)123 single domains in air with controlled chemical substitutions

Hot-seeding melt growth of large (Sm-Eu)123 single domains has been investigated in air with Nd123 seeds. A homogenization at the partial molten state, which was achieved by annealing at 1100 °C for half an hour and at 1070 °C for 2 to 4 hours before seeding, was the key to the growth of large single domains with a diameter more than 3 cm. After seeding one sample was grown in a slow cooling at 0.3 °C/hour for 120 hours. The other sample was grown with a fast cooling at a rate of 2 °C/hour for 15 hours followed by a 0.3 °C/hour slow cooling for 100 hours. The measurements of local T_c and J_c values over the entire bulks evidenced that a large spatial variation in the superconducting properties was observed in the sample grown with the former thermal schedule, while the latter thermal profile favored the growth of near stoichiometric (Sm_xEu_1-x)Ba₂Cu₃O_7-δ over the whole processing and thereby significantly enhanced the field trapping capacity.