EFFECT OF SILVER ADDITIONS ON SINTERED BI2SR2CACU2O8

Up to 30 weight-percent silver has been added, in the form of silver peroxide, prior to the final sintering step in the preparation of the high-T(c) superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. The sintered samples were characterized by optical microscopy and image analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and X-ray diffraction. Intergranular and intragranular critical current densities were measured by transport and magnetization techniques, respectively. Under the sintering conditions used, there is no evidence of silver inclusion in the lattice, nor of any effect on the stoichiometry due to the silver additions. The silver does have a large effect, though, on the sample morphology, and, therefore, on the intergranular critical current density. However, only a modest variation of the intragranular critical current density is observed with added silver.