Current-voltage characteristics of long Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10/Ag multifilamentary tapes at different bending strains

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of long Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10/Ag (Bi:2223) multifilamentary tapes with different bending strains were measured in a large range of dissipation (10(-12)-10(-3) V/cm). The experimental data were successfully interpreted in terms of current-induced unbinding of the thermally-created vortex-antivortex pairs by taking into account the size limitation of vortex fluctuations. It was found that the shape of the I-V curves can be explained by the contributions to the dissipation of superconducting intergrain contacts having different qualities (i.e. different critical currents) and by the appearance of micro-cracks during the bending process. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.