USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

William L Lechter

Louis E Toth

Michael S Osofsky

Earl F Skelton

Stuart A Wolf

Badri N Das

Hg,Tl-based superconductors are produced by HIPping. A new superconducting phase, having a double (Hg,Tl)-layer and the nominal composition:

HIP method of making high temperature mercury-containing superconductors

High temperature mercury-containing superconductors and method of making

High T.sub.c superconducting compounds are made by forming a reaction mixture of the oxides of Sr, Cu, Ca and Tl, compressing these into a hardened body, and placing the hardened body into a container. The container is then evacuated and sealed. The hardened body is heated under pressure until the oxides of Sr, Ca, Cu, and Tl react to form a superconducting compound.

High TC copper-oxide superconductors comprising Tl-Sr-Ca-Cu-O

Method of making Tl-Sr-Ca-Cu-oxide superconductors comprising heating at

Large oriented crystals greater than one millimeter in length of high T.sub.c superconducting compounds are grown by mixing starting materials in the correct proportions to make the superconducting compound, forming a mixture. The CO.sub.2 is removed from the mixture and the ternary oxide of the compound is formed from the mixture. Next, the mixture is formed into a self-supporting green body and sintered at a sintering temperature at which the top of the self-supporting green body is molten and the bottom surface is solid. The self-supporting green body is held at the sintering temperature for a time, forming a sintered body. Next, the sintered body is cooled so that crystals form. After this step, the crystals can be further processed to increase their superconducting properties. Finally, the crystals are removed and processed for use.

Process for single crystal growth of high T.sub.c superconductors

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Rockville, MD, United States of America

William L Lechter