Area control of Bi-2212 whiskers' formation

On the synthesis of Bi-based high-Tc superconducting whiskers, a scheme is proposed to control the area where the whiskers grow on a precursor. In the area-controlled fabrication technique, it is important that the partial melting temperature in some region of the precursor is intentionally varied. In the present work, Bi2O3 powder was partly deposited on a pellet of Bi-2212 to decease the partial melting temperature, and then the pellet was annealed for the growth of whiskers. Consequently, the area-controlled growth of the Bi-2212 whiskers was successfully achieved. The superconducting properties of the whiskers were investigated by the resistance measurement