Fabrication and Characterization of Porous and Nonporous Y₃CaBa₄Cu₈O_δ Superconductor

Abstract

These pioneer studies unveil the distinguishable properties of standard YBa₂Cu₃O₇ (Y123) and Y₃CaBa₄Cu₈O_y (Y348) in terms of its porous and nonporous structure. Solid-state reaction method was used to fabricate the ceramic materials which involve a series of heating and grinding. The electrical properties of superconductor such as critical temperature, T _c, and critical current density, J _c, were determined using resistivity measurement system (RMS). Scanning electron microscope was used to analyze the structural properties and morphology of particular material, respectively. The highest critical current density (J _C) is porous (Y123) which is 2.66 A/cm² instead of 2.34 A/cm² for porous Y₃CaBa₄Cu₈Oy. The critical temperature YCaBa₂Cu₃O_y (Y123) for porous structure is much higher compared to nonporous structure, which is T _C = 89 K. The critical temperature for porous YCaBa₄Cu₆Oy is 65 K which is higher than the nonporous sample. SEM micrograph for porous structure showed the increase of critical currents is dominantly determined by porosity due to bigger and continuity formation of grains which lessen the current blocking effect causes by grain boundaries.