Destructive and non-destructive determination of the transport current density radial distribution: Application to Bi-2212 textured rods

Abstract

Destructive and non-destructive methods to estimate the radial distribution of the transport critical current, J c( r), of long cylindrical superconductors are presented. The non-destructive method is based on the measurement of self-field AC losses as a function of the current amplitude, Q( I 0) and takes into account the E– J characteristics of the material. Both methods have been used to derive the J c( r) profiles of long and thin Bi-2212 rods textured by laser-induced zone melting techniques. The obtained results have been correlated with the microstructure of the samples and their critical temperature.