STABLE SUSPENSION IN MELT-TEXTURED Y-BA-Cu-O SUPERCONDUCTOR.

Melt-textured YBa sub 2 Cu sub 3 O sub (7-delta) superconductor with a long and well-aligned grain structure is shown to exhibit striking suspension effects. A sample of the superconductor at 77K can be suspended as much as ~2 cm below a magnet, can lift up from below a magnet with more than 10 times its own weight, or, once magnetized, can pick up pieces of soft magnetic iron. The suspension as well as the magnet-like behavior of the melt-textured superconductor is attributed to a large magnetization hysteresis at 77K, which is about four-hundred fold increased over that for sintered pellets due to the significantly larger grain size. The stability of suspension is attributed to the steep minor loop about the equilibrium position. The suspension distance and the observed stability are in good agreement with simple model.