Influence of antimony oxide on the properties of YBa2Cu3O7-x superconductors prepared by melt quenching

Abstract

The potential usefulness of glass-technological procedures to prepare oxidic high-temperature superconductors is well-known. Samples in the system Y-Ba-Cu-O have been produced by a melt process and subsequent annealing steps. Antimony oxides have been added to the base system and their influence on the properties of the products has been studied. The samples have been analyzed by X-ray diffraction and differential thermogravimetry as well as by electrical resistance measurements. With the addition of antimony oxides the type and quantities of the crystalline phases changed both in the quenched samples and in the samples annealed at temperatures above 900 °C and also the density increased. It was found that the samples containing antimony oxides as well as the samples of the base system become superconductors at a temperature higher than the liquid nitrogen temperature. Only the annealing time is much less than that for the pure superconductor.