Microstructural, thermal, and electrical properties of Bi_1.7V_0.3Sr₂Ca₂Ca₃O_x glass-ceramic superconductor

Abstract

A glass-ceramic Bi1.7V0.3Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox superconductor was prepared by the melt-quenching method. The compound was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, current-voltage characteristics, transport resistance measurements, and Hall effect measurements. Two main phases (BSCCO 2212 and 2223) were observed in the x-ray data and the values of the lattice parameters quite agree with the known values for 2212 and 2223 phases. The glass transition temperature was found to be 426 degreesC while the activation energy for crystallization of glass has been found to be E-a = 370.5 kJ / mol. This result indicates that the substitution of vanadium increased the activation energy for the BSCCO system. An offset T-c of 80 K was measured and the onset T-c was 100 K. The Hall resistivity rho(H) was found to be almost field-independent at the normal state. A negative Hall coefficient was observed and no sign reversal of rho(H) or RH could be noticed. The mobility and carrier density at different temperatures in the range 140-300 K under different applied magnetic fields up to 1.4 T were also measured and the results are discussed.