We studied the effect of lead content (x = 0.20−0.40) on the critical current density Jc (0 T, 77 K), irreversibility field H* (77 K), and microstructure of monocore, Ag-clad Bi1.8PbxSr2Ca2Cu3Oy (2223) tapes, finding that tapes with lower lead contents (x = 0.20–0.25) required higher processing temperatures (840 and 832 °C, respectively) to complete 2223 formation, as compared to the optimum 820 °C reaction temperature of the x = 0.30–0.40 tapes. We found that both the zero-field and the in-field properties correlated strongly to the phase purity with Jc (0 T, 77 K) reaching a maximum of ˜20 kA/cm2 for x = 0.30, and then decreasing with increasing lead content to ˜12 kA/cm2 for x = 0.40. H* (77 K) increased from ˜165 mT at x = 0.20 to ˜265 mT at x = 0.30, then declined to 195 mT at x = 0.40. Optimizing the lead content at x = 0.30 maximized both the connectivity and the flux pinning contributions to the critical current density.

The rate at which Ag-clad (Bi, Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox tapes are cooled from their final reaction heat treatment influences both the intergranular connectivity and intragranular flux pinning strength of the polycrystalline filaments. As the cooling rate from 825 °C to 730 °C in 7.5% O2 was decreased over a range of 5 °C/min to 0.005 °C/min, Jc (77 K, 0 T) increased from ∼8 to ∼24 kA/cm2, and the irreversibility field increased from, ∼120 to, ∼200 mT. The Jc (4.2 K, 0 T) increased in a similar fashion. Cooling slowly also sharpened the critical temperature transition and increased the critical onset temperature from 107 K to 109 K. These improvements in the superconducting properties occurred despite partial decomposition of the (Bi, Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox phase into non-superconducting impurity phases during the slow cooling. A microstructural basis for these multiple effects is described.

Electromagnetic characterization and high resolution transmission electron microscopy have been conducted on the same 8° [001] symmetrical (010) tilt boundary in a naturally grown, bulk-scale bicrystal of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + x (BSCCO-2212). The resistive transition showed excess resistance above and below Tc, suggesting some weak coupling at the boundary, but the inter- and intragranular voltage-current characteristics, irreversibility fields, and critical current density (Jc) values were very similar and characteristic of strongly coupled grains and grain boundary. The misorientation was accommodated by a set of partial dislocations with the Frank spacing of 1.9 nm. The dislocation cores appeared to be separated by relatively undistorted regions of crystal. The Jc, values at 25 K exceeded 103 A/cm2 in fields of several tesla, more than two orders of magnitude larger than that found earlier in [001] twist boundaries of BSCCO-2212. This result is consistent with the view that low angle [001] till boundaries play an important role for current transport in polycrystalline BSCCO tapes.

The decomposition of almost fully reacted (Bi, Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox (BSCCO-2223) tapes caused by heating in 1 atm of pure O2 at 825 °C has been studied. It was found that partially decomposing 2223 tapes to a mixture of Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2Oy, (Ca, Sr)2PbO4, and other secondary phases reduced the critical current density (77 K, 0 T) from ∼20 kA/cm2 to nearly zero. Reheating the tapes in 7.5% O2 restored the 2223 phase and, while there was some degradation of the 2223 grain alignment due to residual secondary phase growth, the critical current density was also restored to nearly its original value. We hypothesize that such a decomposition/reformation process can be useful in increasing the connectivity and relative density of polycrystalline 2223, by encouraging the formation of a liquid phase which heals residual cracks in the BSCCO core.

Conventional Nb-Ti superconductors are optimized by thermal and mechanical treatments which ultimately produce a nanostructure consisting of 1-2nm thick ribbons of α-Ti dispersed in a matrix of β-Nb-Ti. Several groups are now investigating artificial dispersions of second phase in Nb-Ti which may develop stronger flux pinning nanostructures. However, these new methods generally require true strains of 30 or more. We avoid these large strains (and their associated problems) by forming our composites from a mixture ∼ -50¼m size Nb and Nb-Ti powders, thus permitting the desired nanostructure to be produced with strains of order 12. Nb pinning particles were found to develop an irregular shape, tending to nanometer thick ribbons at large strains. The final size nanostructure resembles conventional Nb-Ti, except that the “second” phase is Nb rather than α-Ti. The critical current density (Jc) was found to increase by over two orders of magnitude to peak values of 5490 and 1980A/mm2 at 2 and 5T as the particle thickness was reduced.

The materials and electronic properties of the new cuprate superconductors are critically dependent upon both the oxygen stoichiometry and annealing history of the material. Improving Jc, Tc, and determining the underlying mechanism of superconductivity depend on a better understanding of these effects. In the study of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8-δ we have combined standard material characterization techniques with high resolution angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy and resonant photoemission spectroscopy to illuminate these issues. Specifically, we make high quality single crystals of BSCCO and then anneal in different atmospheres and pressures. We correlate this with c-axis resistivity, a, b-plane resistivity, and resonant photoemission spectroscopy. In this way we can explain the macroscopic transport properties in terms of the electronic properties of the material determined from photoemission. We find that we can change the c-axis resistivity from non-metallic to metallic by adding oxygen and that this correlates with increased oscillator strength in the c-axis direction at the Fermi level.

Regular networks of localized grain boundary dislocations (GBDs) have been imaged by means of transmission electron microscopy in three different types of high-angle grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7-δ, implying that these boundaries possess ordered structures upon which a significant periodic strain field is superimposed. The occurrence of these GBD networks is shown to be consistent with the GBD/Structural Unit and Coincidence Site Lattice (CSL)/Near CSL descriptions for grain boundary structure. Thus, these dislocations appear to be intrinsic features of the boundary structure. The spacing of the observed GBDs ranged from ∼10 nm to ∼100 nm. These GBDs make the grain boundaries heterogeneous on a scale that approaches the coherence length and may contribute to their weak-link character by producing the “superconducting micro-bridge” microstructure which has been suggested on the basis of detailed electromagnetic measurements on similar samples.