We scrutinize the enhanced superconducting performance of melt quench Bismuth based Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 (Bi-2212) superconductor. The superconducting properties of melt quenched Bi-2212 (Bi2212-MQ) sample are compared with non-melted Bi2212-NM and Bi1.4Pb0
.6Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 (Bi-2223). Crystal structure and morphology of the samples are studied using X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques. The high field (14T) magneto-transport and DC/AC magnetic susceptibility techniques are extensively used to study the superconducting properties of the investigated samples. The superconducting critical temperature (Tc) and upper critical field (Hc2) as well as thermally activated flux flow (TAFF) activation energy are estimated from the magneto-resistive [R(T)H] measurements. Both DC magnetization and amplitude dependent AC susceptibility measurements are used to determine the field and temperature dependence of critical current density (Jc) for studied samples. On the other hand, the frequency dependent AC susceptibility is used for estimating flux creep activation energy. It is found that melt quenching significantly enhances the superconducting properties of granular Bi-2212 superconductor. The results are interpreted in terms of better alignment and inter-connectivity of the grains along with reduction of grain boundaries for Bi2212-MQ sample.
We study the temperature dependence of the resistivity as a function of magnetic field in superconducting transition (Tconset - TcR=0) region for different Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+{delta} superconducting samples being synthesized using sol-gel method. The supe
rconducting transition temperature (TcR=0) of the studied samples is increased from 32 K to 82K by simply increasing the final sintering temperature with an improved grains morphology. On the other hand, broadening of transition is increased substantially with decrease in sintering temperature; this is because Tconset is not affected much with grains morphology. Further broadening of the superconducting transition is seen under magnetic field, which is being explained on the basis of thermally activated flux flow (TAFF) below superconducting transition temperature (Tc). TAFF activation energy (U0) is calculated using the resistive broadening of samples in the presence of magnetic field. Temperature dependence of TAFF activation energy revealed linear temperature dependence for all the samples. Further, magnetic field dependence is found to obey power law for all the samples and the negative exponent is increased with increase in sintering temperature or the improved grains morphology for different Bi-2212 samples. We believe that the sintering temperature and the ensuing role of grain morphology is yet a key issue to be addressed in case of cuprate superconductors.
In present study, we report an inter-comparison of various physical and electronic properties of MgB2 and AlB2. Interestingly, the sign of S(T) is +ve for MgB2 the same is -ve for AlB2. This is consistent our band structure plots. We fitted the exper
imental specific heat of MgB2 to Debye Einstein model and estimated the value of Debye temperature (theta) and Sommerfeld constant (gamma) for electronic specific heat. Further, from gamma the electronic density of states (DOS) at Fermi level N(EF) is calculated. From the ratio of experimental N (EF) and the one being calculated from DFT, we obtained value of Lembda to be 1.84, thus placing MgB2 in the strong coupling BCS category. The electronic specific heat of MgB2 is also fitted below Tc using pi-model and found that it is a two gap superconductor. The calculated values of two gaps are in good agreement with earlier reports. Our results clearly demonstrate that the superconductivity of MgB2 is due to very large phonon contribution from its stretched lattice. The same two effects are obviously missing in AlB2 and hence it is not superconducting. DFT calculations demonstrated that for MgB2 the majority of states come from Sigma and Pi 2p states of boron on the other hand Sigma band at Fermi level for AlB2 is absent. This leads to a weak electron phonon coupling and also to hole deficiency as Pi bands are known to be of electron type and hence obviously the AlB2 is not superconducting. The DFT calculations are consistent with the measured physical properties of the studied borides, i.e., MgB2 and AlB2
