Enhancement of the 77 K irreversibility field and critical current density of (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca 2Cu3Ox tapes by manipulation of the final cooling rate

By manipulating the cooling rate from the final heat treatment, we have raised the 77 K, self-field critical current density (Jc) of multifilament (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox (2223) tapes by a factor of 3, and the irreversibility field (H*) by more than 50%. The Jc of samples cooled in 7.5% O2 from their reaction temperature of 825 °C increased from ∼8 to ∼24 kA/cm2 and H*(77 K) increased from ∼120 to ∼200 mT as the cooling rate was decreased from 5 to 0.016 °C/min. The results unambiguously show that the flux pinning properties of 2223 tapes can be improved by simple changes in wire processing.