High T sub c Oxides: Crystal Growth and Characterization

The growth of crystals of the new high T sub c oxides has been of critical importance in phase identification and in the determination of the intrinsic properties of these fascinating new materials. Flux growth techniques have yielded high quality samples of a number of these complicated oxides, and these crystals have given us important new insights into superconductivity in oxides. Resent results on the growth of Bi sub 2.2 Sr sub 2 Ca sub 0.8 Cu sub 2 O sub 8+ delta phases from alkali chloride melts, Ba sub 1-x K sub x BiO sub 3 crystals from KOH melts, as well as the growth of new phases will be discussed.