Growth of high T{sub c} superconducting fibers using a minaturized laser-heated float zone process. Annual progress report, January 1, 1993--December 31, 1993

This report covers the research done on {open_quotes}Growth of High Tc Superconducting Fibers using a Miniaturized Laser-Heated Float Zone Process{close_quotes} during the 12 months from Jan. 1, 1993 until Dec. 31, 1993. The effort during this period were directed into two areas; the influence of growth conditions on the properties of the superconducting fibers and the construction of the advanced fiber growth station. In the first area of emphasis, studies were done on constitutional super cooling effect, the influence of processing parameters on Tc, the correlation between Tc and growth parameters and the mechanical properties of 2212 fibers. These studies showed that there are two types of interfacial breakdowns; one type that involves low temperature inclusions caused by excessive solute buildup and another involving high temperature inclusions which require two conditions to be met. These condition are: (1) significant compositional gradients in the melt and (2) an interface melt temperature near the peritectic decomposition temperature. Analysis of the experimental data lead to the hypothesis that fibers with the highest crystallinity are grown from SrO-rich 2212 melts. Evaluation of the constitutional supercooling responsible for the high temperature inclusions suggested that growth under these conditions was most vulnerable to disruption by HT inclusions. Tc increased with growth temperature for as-grown fibers. The concentration of SrO in the fibers had a parabolic relationship with temperature. The same parabolic relationship was observed between composition and Tc. The thermal history of 2212 crystals has been shown to influence their oxygen content which played a significant role in determining their Tc`s. Fiber heat treatment and the ambient gaseous atmosphere were found to dominate the Tc variations measured in this study