Texturation and critical currents in cerium-substituted cuprates Bi2Sr2Ca1-xCexCu2O8+δ

The influence of texturation on the intragranular properties of bismuth cuprates was studied after partial substitution of calcium by tetravalent cerium in the 2212 ceramics (Bi2Sr2Ca1-xCexCu2O8+δ; x≤0.3). The critical temperature Tc varies non-monotonically and reaches a maximum for x similar 0.02. The relative superconducting volume decreases due to the electrons supplied by the lanthanide. X-ray diffraction, SEM observations, ac susceptibility and magnetization show that these ceramics become easily textured by their simple compaction prior to sintering. It was found that the texturation mainly affects the intragranular properties and the initial slope of the magnetization cycles. ((orig.))