Influence of doping on transport and magnetisation properties of Bi 2212 tapes - vortex pinning

Bismuth-based superconductors ar now thoroughly studied and are thought to be one of the best High Critical Temperature Superconductors (HSTC) that could be industrially developed. Though their synthesis is one of the easiest to achieve, their strong anisotropy affects drastically their transport properties under magnetic field, especially in the low field regime. In order to avoid vortices motion, two main methods have been used to introduce pinning centers: irradiation defects or dissemination of non-superconducting particles. An original method of synthesis has been developed in our laboratories, alternating electrolytic depositions and heat treatments with which one can obtain Bi 2212 tapes on silver substrate. Though we have good performances at 77 K, the Jc drops by a factor of 5 at 7 T for B parallel to c-axis. By including Ag, MgO and ZrO2 particles, we tried to introduce efficient pinning centers in the superconducting matrix. Some of these dopants played also a role on intergranular connectivity. By magnetisation and transport studies, we have been able to improve the situation in these two fields. (author)