Characterization of YBa 2Cu 3O 7-x in a mechanical properties microprobe

Abstract

Early after the discovery of the high Tc superconductors several authors indicated severe limitations of these materials for many possible industrial applications. The extreme brittle behavior of sizable samples has impaired the mechanical characterization of the ceramic superconductors. Recent developments in small scale hardness testing have now made it possible to make hardness indents in materials and derive meaningful mechanical properties data. This has largely been accomplished by instrumenting specialized hardness testing equipment with high resolution devices to monitor continuously the loads and displacements experienced by the contact of the indenter on the material. By proper analysis of the load displacement data, it is also possible to determine a number of material properties which cannot normally be obtained using conventional microhardness testing such as the elastic modulus. In this paper the authors characterized the mechanical properties of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}x} crystallites by employing a Nanoindenter.