A study of the use of a magnetic field to control the microstructure of the high-temperature superconducting oxide YBa2Cu3O7 -δ

Abstract
This paper demonstrates that, by taking advantage of the anisotropy in the paramagnetic susceptibility of the high-temperature superconducting oxide YBa2Cu3O7 it is possible to prepare bulk textured samples of this material by solidification in a magnetic field. The effects of increasing the annealing temperature employed, varying the strength of the annealing field and altering the temperature range in which an annealing field is applied on the properties of the material obtained are discussed.