Materials preparation and magnetization of Gd-Ba-Cu-O bulk high-temperature superconductors

Abstract

The paper reports on recent achievements in the preparation and magnetization of bulk high-temperature superconductors (HTS). The melt-growth of HTS bulks has technically stabilized due to the use of buffer materials with a seed crystal and modified infiltration to supply a rich liquid phase during growth. This modified growth technology was adapted as our standard processing method. This paper describes some new aspects of both field cooling and pulsed field magnetization processes. Pulsed field magnetization uses waveform control that feeds back the transient flux around the top-center of the bulks and traps a field of 1.63 T, which is more than 90% of the field cooling value. This was achieved by applying a single step pulsed field at a liquid nitrogen temperature. For practical applications, the magnetization under a static magnetic field that is tilted from the crystallographic c-axis was investigated at liquid nitrogen temperature. The trapped flux component perpendicular to the bulk surface remains strong up to θ = 30° inclination, compared to the procedure along the axis. Information about HTS bulks is considered to be important for machine applications using bulk HTS as cryo-permanent magnets.