Fabrication of High T sub c Superconductors Using Tape Casting

High temperature superconductors of the Ba sub 2 YCu sub 3 O sub 7 family are brittle materials which must be shaped from ceramic particles which are subsequently sintered to a dense ceramic. One fabrication method of promise is tape casting where a slurry of particles in organic binder and solvents is cast as a thin layer which upon drying forms a flexible sheet of particles embedded in the binder. This sheet can be formed and then heated to remove the organics and sintered to a dense superconducting body. The electrical properties of these materials will be described emphasizing the effect of heat treatment on critical current density.