A microwave melt texture growth process of YBa2Cu3O7-δ

Microwave heating in a single mode cavity can produce large thermal gradients (G>150°C cm−1), so this process was used to grow large YBa2Cu3O7-δ (Y123) textured domain bars by using the classical MTG process operating in a TE102 cavity. Thus, this paper is devoted to presenting this new technology involving a material-conducting microwave interaction and describe a device allowing microwave heating of Y123. In this paper, a model has been developed concerning microwave–matter interactions for conducting materials and a study of the relevant parameters which control the process has been performed. Thus, a temperature regulation algorithm has been presented. In terms of material processing, we applied our results to a Y2BaCuO5 rich Y123 composition doped with cerium dioxide, CeO2, and the growth of a large quasi-single domain at a 2 mm h−1 growth rate in a microwave cavity was obtained. Owing to the particular heating mechanism, there is no thermal inertia leading to a faster process than the classical. Besides, the good superconducting properties obtained demonstrates that this original process can be competitive with the classical MTG process operating in a vertical furnace.