Preparation of Zone-melted NdBaCuO under Low Oxygen Pressure

The NdBaCuO superconductor samples were Zone-melted in low oxygen partial pressure (1% $O_{2}+ 99% Ar$ ). The Zone-melting temperature was decreased about $120^{\circ}C$ from $1060^{\circ}C$ the zone-melting temperature in air. Thus the loss of liquid phase ($BaCuO_{2}$ and CuO) was reduced during the zone-melting process. The content of non-superconducting phase Nd422 in zone-melted NdBaCuO samples was clearly decreased, so was the substitution of Nd for Ba. The superconductivity of zone-melted $Nd_{1+x}Ba_{2-x}Cu_{3}O_{y}$ prepared under low oxygen partial pressure was distinctively improved.