Partial melt processing of magnetically-aligned YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7- delta / thick films

Textured YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-x/ (YBCO) thick films were fabricated in the green state by casting particulate-based suspensions in an applied magnetic field (7 T) at ambient temperature. These films, along with nonaligned films, were fired to various temperatures above the peritectic temperature ( approximately= 1020 degrees C) to evaluate the effects of partial melt processing on their microstructural development and performance properties. The degree of domain alignment in the fired films was measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. This showed that the aligned films had a high degree of c-axis texture. Examination by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed distinct differences in both the film density and texture development between aligned and nonaligned films. The magnetic properties of each film were measured at 5 K using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer (5.5 T maximum field). These measurements indicated that a high degree of anisotropy was present only in the partial melt processed aligned YBCO films.<>