INFLUENCE OF THE MOLD TEMPERATURE ON THE PROPERTIES OF MELT-CAST BI-SR-CA-CU-O PRECURSORS

The melt casting route has been shown to be a promising synthesis tech nique for the fabrication of bulk Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconductor. Precur sors produced via this technique may be converted into superconducting material through conventional radiative heating or, as has been shown , through direct electrical resistance heating. For processing via the latter technique, a precursor with homogeneous electrical properties is preferred. In this paper melt east precursor rods of composition Bi (1.6)Pbo(0.4)Sr(2)Ca(3)Cu(4)Oy have been prepared through casting a me lt into a preheated copper mould and the influence of the temperature to which the mould was preheated on the electrical resistance and homo geneity of the precursor was studied.