Abstract
Gas flame and modified melt-textured-growth (MTG) are used to grow textured YBa2Cu3Oy (123) crystals and to control the particle size of Y2BaCuO5 (211) inclusions. The size of 211 particles is reduced from 10 μm in conventional MTG samples to 0.2 μm in the crystals grown by the new processing technique. The new technique also has advantages such as a relatively low working temperature and a short reaction time compared with the conventional MTG method. The flux pinning force is significantly enhanced by the nanoparticles that act as effective flux pinning centers. The best sample shows a Jc as high as 5×104 A/cm2 at 77 K and 4 T.