Relationship between the Oxygen Deficiency and the Weak Links in Sintered YBa₂Cu₃O_y

Abstract

In order to investigate the relationship between the oxygen deficiency and the weak links in sintered YBa₂Cu₃O_y, the inter- and intra-grain critical current densities (J_cT and J_cM) were measured for the samples with different oxygen contents. It is found that the J_cT-B characteristics become worse with decreasing oxygen contents, while, the J_cM-B characteristics, which are larger over four orders than the J_cT'S, are almost unchanged. These results suggest that the oxygen deficiency exists at the grain boundaries and that is the origin of weak links in sintered YBa₂Cu₃O_y.