1998 Volume 45 Issue 2 Pages 109-113
Single crystal growth and solidification processing of Nd- 123 superconductive oxides are reviewed in comparison with Y-123 oxide. Since Nd-123 crystal forms a solid solution due to Nd/Ba substitution, this crystal is considered to be nonstoichiometric while Y-123 is a stoichiometric compound at least for its cation constituents. Crystal growth processing of nonstoichiometric compounds (Nd-123) with homogeneous composition distribution should be different from that of stoichiometric (Y-123) compounds, because the former case is one degree of freedom in the Gibbs phase rule higher than the latter case. In this paper, difference in crystal growth mechanisms between Nd-123 and Y-123 is discussed, taking into consideration of equilibrium phase diagrams, kinetics of the 123 phase crystal growth.
