EFFECT OF SINTERING TIME ON THE TRANSPORT CURRENT DENSITY OF Ag-SHEATHED (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3Oy SUPERCONDUCTOR TAPES

Abstract

The effect of heat treatment on the critical current density, j_c was studied for monofilament tape samples without intermediate rolling. Bi_1.6Pb_0.4Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O_7+δ polycrystalline ceramic powder was prepared by co-precipitation technique. The tape samples were prepared using standard powder-in-tube method and were sintered at 850°C at different sintering time. XRD result shows the peaks (00l) that belong to the 2223 phase which appear with the increase in sintering time. The electrical transport and magnetic properties of the tapes were characterized from 60 K to 77 K in zero magnetic fields and in magnetic field up to 0.6 T at 77 K. The transport critical current density, j_c for the tape sintered for 24 hour is 2400 A/cm^-2 and is 6000 A/cm^-2 for tape sintered for 100 hour. This showed that j_c increases with the increasing of the sintering time.