Corrosion of superconductors-especially of YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-/spl delta// cuprate

Author

Regier, M. ; Keskin, E. ; Halbritter, J.

Author_Institution

Inst. fur Materialforschung, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany

Volume

9

Issue

2

fYear

1999

fDate

6/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2375

Lastpage

2379

Abstract

Electronic properties of superconductors deteriorate with time by oxidation or other chemical attack enforced by thermal cycling. Despite being oxides, cuprate superconductors deteriorate in lab atmosphere. The corrosion of, e.g., YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-/spl delta// (YBCO) is mainly caused by H/sub 2/O and CO/sub 2/, which react to Ba-hydroxide and to Ba-carbonate. As reaction paths the CuO-chain-BaO-layers are the fastest ones, whereas the out-of-plane paths are slower. Grain and twin boundaries or strain have been identified as paths for O-diffusion or reaction with H/sub 2/O and CO/sub 2/.

Keywords

barium compounds; corrosion; diffusion; heat treatment; high-temperature superconductors; oxidation; twin boundaries; yttrium compounds; O-diffusion; YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7/; chemical attack; corrosion; grain boundaries; oxidation; thermal cycling; twin boundaries; Corrosion; Granular superconductors; Impurities; Niobium; Oxidation; Superconductivity; Surface cleaning; Surface morphology; Surface resistance; Yttrium barium copper oxide;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/77.784949

Filename

784949