Improvement of properties of BSCCO superconductor tapes with thermal processing

High-Tc BSCCO superconductor tapes were prepared by the powder-in-tube (PIT) method. Some tapes involved partial melting followed by slow cooling, and some involved partial melting followed by rapid quenching. X-ray diffraction showed the presence of BSCCO phases and secondary phases in all the materials. Careful control of the cooling rate (0.1 C/min) after the partial melting at 850 C for 0.5 hours improved the critical current densities and basal texture alignment compared to the rapidly quenched tapes. Direct current (DC) magnetic susceptibility measurements were used to follow the transition at Tc. Critical current density, Jc, values were estimated from DC magnetic hysteresis loops