Quantification of oxygen in the superconductor YBa2Cu3Ox

Characterization of a superconductor material has been investigated by thermal desorption mass spectrometry and oxygen quantification. The oxygen content increased with the decrease of grain size of the specimen. The oxygen content of the specimen whose grain size is 3μmφ is 6% higher than the specimen whose grain size is 150μmφ. On the smaller grain-size specimen, gas extraction takes place in the 500°C region. Extracted gases mainly consist of oxygen and water vapor.