Single crystal

About: Single crystal is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 59617 publications have been published within this topic receiving 870828 citations.

Conductors with controlled grain boundaries: An approach to the next generation, high temperature superconducting wire

Abstract: Much of the conductor development effort in the last decade has focused on optimizing the processing of (Bi, Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox oxide-powder-in-tube conductors and (Bi, Pb)2Sr2CaCu2O8 (Bi-2212) and TlBa2Ca2Cu3Ox thick film conductors. It is demonstrated that in each of these conductors, critical current densities are dictated by the grain boundary misorientation distributions (GBMD’s). Percolative networks of low-angle boundaries with fractions consistent with the active cross-sectional area of the conductor exist in each of these conductors. Further enhancements in the properties require increased numbers of small-angle grain boundaries. Given the processing methods used to fabricate these materials, no clear route employing a simple modification of the established processing method is apparent. To address this need, conductors with controlled or predetermined GBMD’s are necessary. Development of biaxial texture appears to be the only possible way to increase the number of small-angle boundaries in a practical and controllable manner. We summarize in this paper recent results obtained on epitaxial superconducting films on rolling-assisted-biaxially-textured-substrates (RABiTS). This technique uses well established, industrially scalable, thermomechanical processes to impart a strong biaxial texture to a base metal. This is followed by vapor deposition of epitaxial buffer layers (metal and/or ceramic) to yield structurally and chemically compatible surfaces. Epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7–δ films grown using laser ablation on such substrates have critical current densities exceeding 106 A/cm2 at 77 K in zero field and have a field dependence similar to epitaxial films on single crystal ceramic substrates. Deposited conductors made using this technique offer a potential route for the fabrication of the next generation high temperature superconducting (HTS) wire capable of carrying high currents in high magnetic fields and at elevated temperatures.

Reverse Micelle Based Formation of BaCO3 Nanowires

Abstract: A reverse micelle based approach is reported for the synthesis of BaCO3 nanowires with lengths up to 100 μm and diameters as small as 10−30 nm, each of which is a continuous single crystal with the c-axis along the wire length axis. The synthesis is achieved by the reaction of barium and carbonate ions solubilized in the polar cores of nonionic reverse micelles of C12E4 (tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether) in cyclohexane. The crystal growth of BaCO3 nanowires has been examined by electron microscopy observations, and a directional aggregation process is proposed for the nanowire formation.