Improvements in the Current Carrying Capacity in High-Tc BiSrCaCuO Superconductors

Remarkable improvements in the critical current density of the BiSrCaCuO sintered specimens have been achieved by a modified combination of heat treatment and pressing. The disk-shaped specimens were pressed uniaxially at room temperature after an initial sintering treatment and heated again at the same sintering temperature. This intermediate pressing method has produced a strongly oriented microstructure with a remarkably large critical current density. Correlation between microstructure and the critical current density, J c, as well as anisotropy of the J c with respect to the magnetic field direction has been described.