Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
Superconducting YBa2Cu3O7−x needles prepared from hot-pressed discs of oxide powders were analyzed in a long drift-tube type atom probe. An analyses was made from a randomly located area about 2 nm in diameter. Most of the oxygen field-evaporated as O2+ ions. The measured composition agreed well with that of YBa2Cu3O6.5 except for yttrium which was found to be too high. The oxygen concentration profile showed fluctuations about 2.5 nm apart which must still be clarified.