Patent ID: 8193122

Claim:
A method of fabricating a superconductor of predetermined grain orientation comprising the steps of; selecting a superconductor material; selecting a seed crystal grown from a rare-earth oxide having the basic formula (RE) w Z t Ba x Cu y O z ; where (RE) comprises at least one rare earth element; where w is in the range 1 to 4, x is in the range 1 to 6, y is in the range 1 to 6 and z is in the range 3 to 20; and Z is a dopant which raises the peritectic decomposition temperature (T p ) of the oxide, in which Z comprises Mg and in which the rare-earth oxide contains less than 40% w/w of Mg; and, arranging the seed crystal in contact with the superconductor material in a desired crystallographic orientation such that, during processing, grain growth in the superconductor material is initiated in a predetermined orientation.