Ultrafine SnO2 powder was made with grain size down to 20 nm. Such powder was introduced into the textured growth of Y1qx Ba2 Cu3 O7qd YBCO.superconductors. Crystalline inclusions, which were cubic in shape and from micrometer to submicrometer in size, were found trapped inside such grown YBCO superconductors. Determined by energy dispersive spectroscopy EDS., and further confirmed by X-ray diffraction, the composition of the inclusions was Y2Ba5 Sn3 yyyz Cuy Ptz.Ox. This Sn-based phase belongs to double perovskite structures. They were not trapped uniformly inside the YBa2Cu3O7yd 123., possibly caused by the agglomeration of the SnO2 powder at the very beginning. Nevertheless, it is possible for fine Sn-based inclusions down to a few hundred nanometers to be trapped inside the 123. The addition of the ultrafine SnO2 to YBCO textured superconductors without Pt did not seem to affect the size of Y2Ba Cu O5 211.particles. For comparison, Y2Sn2O7was also introduced to YBCO textured superconductor. In this case, the so-called f phase YBa3 Sn2 yx Cux O9yd was found. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.