Further studies on Ag/BPSCCO tapes using low purity materials

Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) studies are reported on Ag-clad Bi_1.7 Pb_0.4Sr_1.8Ca₂Cu_3.5O _x tapes prepared by using low purity (98–99%) commercial grade materials. The self-fieldJ _c values of these tapes viz. 6.14 × 10³ A.cm⁻² at 77 K and 1.4 × 10⁵ A.cm⁻² at 4.2 K, reported in an earlier publication, were significantly higher than the correspondingJ _c values in tapes prepared with high purity (99.99%) materials. The TEM pictures on the low purity core material of the tapes reveal the presence of stacking faults and the intergrowth of the 2212 and 2223 phases which could be acting as flux pinning sites and responsible for enhancedJ _c values. These defects can perhaps be traced back to the presence of 60 ppm iron in the low purity CuO as revealed by atomic absorption analysis reported earlier.