This project will investigate advanced ceramic processing methods through use of colloidal techniques to produce ceramic superconductors. The processing methods used in this project will allow the microstructures to be precisely controlled; thereby, revealing the relationship between microstructure, properties, and processing for the new class of materials. The extreme anisotropy of the cuprate superconductors necessitates the development of texture microstructures in polycrystalline aggregates. Therefore, the project will investigate cryogenic colloidal processing techniques to obtain preferential crystallographic orientation of grains as the ceramic greenbody is formed. This might be accomplished in the project by dispersing particles of the superconductor in liquid nitrogen and filtercasting in the presence of a magnetic field. The investigators will evaluate electrical characteristics of controlled microstructure samples with respect to transition temperature, and critical current densities while under strain. The investigators will construct equipment to measure the critical current density as a function of strain in a magnetic field.
