Growth of BSCCO and YBCO single crystals using large temperature gradients

A large temperature-gradient technique for growing BSCCO single crystals is reported. For comparison, the growth of YBCO single crystals using the same technique is also reported. BSCCO crystals grown using different cooling rates have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and optical microscopy. It is found that the cooling-rate must be related to the crystal growth-rate to obtain good quality crystals. The growth mechanism and resulting growth steps, dislocation networks, transition temperature and anomalous magnetization are discussed.< >