Processing of Bi2.1Sr1.8Ca1.1Cu2O8 source material for float-zone fiber growth

Bi2.1Sr1.8Ca1.1Cu2O8 fibers having excellent superconducting properties can be grown by a laser-heated float zone process. In order to maintain stable growth conditions and thereby obtain fibers free of diameter fluctuations and voids, dense ceramic starting material containing only the 2212 phase is required. In this study various processing parameters, including calcining and sintering temperatures and times, grain size of the powders used, and pressing pressures were optimized to yield dense, chemically homogeneous starting material. It was found that under most conditions there was no increase in the density on sintering. Retrograde densification was the usual situation except at higher pressures and was found to depend on pressing pressure, calcination history, and sintering temperature. Cold-pressing at higher pressures (100 000 psi) yielded denser but chemically inhomogeneous material. Ceramic samples sintered for long times (>48 h) yielded source rods that produced instabilities during fiber growth, presumably due to preferential loss of mass during sintering