MORPHOLOGY OF Y2BACUO5 AND SEGREGATION OF 2ND PHASE PARTICLES IN MELT-TEXTURED Y-BA-CU OXIDES WITH WITHOUT BACEO3 ADDITION

Trapping behaviour of second phase (Y2BaCuO5 and BaCeO3) particles was investigated in undoped and BaCeO3-added Y-Ba-Cu oxide prepared by the melt-texture processing. The segregation of second phase particles with a typical pattern is observed in both samples. The Y2BaCuO5 and BaCeO3 particles were trapped in the interior of textured YBa2Cu3O7-y domains and in the liquid phase remained at the high angle grain boundaries where textured YBa2Cu3O7-y domains met. The segregated pattern varied with a crystallographic orientation of the grown YBa2Cu3O7-y domain. This segregation appears to be related to the growth mechanism of the YBa2Cu3O7-y domain from the melt.