Thermodynamic and nonstoichiometric behavior of the lead-doped Bi-2223 system

Abstract

Electromotive force (EMF) measurements of oxygen fugacities as a function of stoichiometry have been made in the lead-doped Bi-2223 superconducting system in the temperature range 700–815°C by means of an oxygen titration technique. The results of our studies indicate that processing or annealing lead-doped Bi-2223 at temperatures ranging from 700 to 815°C and at oxygen partial pressures ranging from ∼0.02 to 0.2 atm should tend to preserve Bi-2223 as essentially single-phase material. Thermodynamic assessments of partial molar quantities indicate that the plateau regions can be represented by the diphasic CuOCu 2O system. In accord with the EMF measurements, it was found that lead-doped Bi-2223 in a silver sheath is stable at 815°C for oxygen partial pressures between 0.02 and 0.13 atm. Long-duration post anneals of silver-clad Bi-2223 filaments at 825°C and an oxygen partial pressure of 0.075 atm eliminated Bi-2212 intergrowths with a concomitant increase in the superconducting transition sharpness.