Abstract
Detailed electromagnetic characterization of samples of YBa2Cu3O7-δ (123) have shown this material, at least in its sintered form, is composed of islands of good superconductor which are separated from one another by “weak links” consisting of regions of poor superconductor or normal material. A number of researchers have suggested that these weak links are associated with grain boundaries. Therefore, conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) coupled with energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDAX) have been used to investigate the morphology, crystallography, and composition of typical grain boundaries in this material.The electromagnetic properties of the specific samples from which the TEM specimens were prepared had been studied in detail. Briefly, these samples possessed relatively low normal state resistivities and nearly field independent transport critical current densities, indicating that they were of relatively high quality.For these initial studies, specimens for TEM and STEM/EDAX were prepared by dimpling plus ion milling (3-4kV, 0.5mA per gun, liquid nitrogen cooled stage).
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