Effect of Nanosized NiF2Addition on the Transport Critical Current Density of Ag-Sheathed (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3O10Superconductor Tapes

Abstract

We report the effect of NiF2(10 nm) additions on the transport critical current density,Jcof (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3O10/Ag sheathed superconductor tapes. Pellets of (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3O10(NiF2)x(x=0–0.05 wt.%) superconductor were prepared using the acetate coprecipitation method. The sample with 0.04 wt.% addition of NiF2exhibited the highestJc. Ag-sheathed (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3O10(NiF2)0.04superconductor tapes were fabricated using the powder-in-tube (PIT) method and sintered at 845°C for 50 and 100 h.Jcof nonadded tapes at 30 K sintered for 50 and 100 h was 6370 and 8280 A/cm2, respectively.Jcof (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3O10(NiF2)0.04/Ag tape at 30 K sintered for 50 and 100 h was 14390 and 17270 A/cm2, respectively. In magnetic fields (0 to 0.7 T),Jcof the NiF2added tapes was also higher compared with the nonadded tape indicating that NiF2nanoparticles can act as effective flux pinning centers and longer sintering time improved the microstructure. A steeper increase inJcwas observed below 60 K in the NiF2added tapes which coincided with the Neel temperature,TNof nanosized NiF2(60 K). The pronounced enhancement ofJcwas attributed to the strong interaction between flux line network and the antiferromagnetic NiF2belowTN.