Elastic and relaxation properties of HTSC-composites BSCCO(2223)+ (0-100)% Ag in the temperature range 5-300 K

Acoustic and relaxation properties of ceramic composites Bi1,6 Pb0,4 Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+δ-Ag have been studied in a wide range of silver concentrations (0-100%). In the vicinity of 150 K, an absorption peak is found in the temperature spectrum of sound absorption for the samples of BSCCO (2223) ceramics. The peak height changes non-monotonically when adding silver into the ceramics. The peak is found to be of the relaxation nature and activation parameters of the related relaxation process localized on the grain boundaries of the ceramics are determined. Another relaxation absorption peak near 70 K is observed in the BCCO(2223)-Ag samples. The intensity of the peak increases with silver concentration. The correlation revealed between the anomalies in the concentration dependences of the acoustic properties and the width of the superconducting transition shows that the adding of silver into intergrain spaces is to a great extent responsible for the elastic, relaxation and superconducting properties of the composites studied