Nanocomposite RE-Ba-Cu-O bulk superconductors
Nanocomposite oxide high-temperature bulk superconductors can be used as quasi-magnets. Thanks to the recent progress of material processing, quasi-magnet with 26 mm diameter can generate a large field of 17.6 T at 26 K. These results are highly attractive for applications, involving levitation of permanent magnets on the bulk superconductors. Indeed, several other applications such as motors and magnetic resonance microscope using bulk superconductors have been proposed and demonstrated. In this chapter, we describe several techniques to improve the magnetic properties for bulk superconductors together with some basics such as phase diagrams and solidifications.