Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
A study of structural and superconducting characteristics of YBa2Cu307-x ceramics sintered after and in the course of gamma-irradiation is reported. Using X-difraction and SEM analyses and transport measurements, it has been shown that mainly the subsurface layer of crystallites and intergrain contacts are affected by the irradiation by means of sorption/desorption of oxygen and ordering/disordering in oxygen sublattice, which depends on gamma dose rate and dose. The irradiation provides the sintering process with an additional superthermal energy to form the orthorhombic well-ordered structure and to obtain dense ceramics possessing strong intergrain contacts and improved and stable superconducting properties