ELECTRICAL AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF VARIOUSLY ANNEALED BI(PB)-SR-CA-CU-O THICK-FILMS

Superconducting thick films with the nominal composition of Bi1.9Pb0.4Sr1.9Ca2.1Cu3.2O10 were prepared by the screen-printing method, using an oxalate synthesis for making the paste, and different heat treatments for final samples. A large difference in the structural and superconducting properties between the unmelted and melted samples, and small deviations between the melted and variously annealed specimens were observed. In the first case, the structure is determined by randomly distributed small microcrystals, while in the second, by highly orientated big ones, which results in dissimilar electrical and magnetic features. Therefore the magnetic moment and superconducting material ratio are bigger in the unmelted samples, but in the melted ones, the superconductivity can be characterized by much higher electrical and magnetic parameters. In particular, the transport critical current has conspicuously greater values in the melted as compared to the unmelted samples. In some melted specimens a hyperdiamagnetic signal has been found up to 242 K, induced by the fine details of the preparation technique. The simplest possible reason for this is the diamagnetic Cu-O content in the samples.