EFFECT OF MECHANICAL DEFORMATION AND ANNEALING ON THE EVOLUTION OF C-AXIS TEXTURE OF BI1.6PB0.4SR2CA2CU3OZ SUPERCONDUCTOR HOT-ISOSTATIC-PRESS CLADDED ONTO A AG SUBSTRATE

A systematic study was undertaken of the mechanical deformation and an nealing effects on the c-axis texture evolution of a Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2Ca2C u3Oz (BSCCO) superconductor cladded onto a Ag substrate. As the amount of cold-rolling reduction (%) increased, a tighter clustering of the (0014) poles around the surface normal indicated that randomly oriente d grains from the initial hot-isostatic-press (HIP) cladded surface ar e progressively oriented nearly perpendicularly to the plane of the ta pe. Conventional X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray pole-figure studie s support a basal-plane sliding mechanism of plastic deformation. In s amples annealed for 100 h, the superconductor (BSCCO) material near th e BSCCO/Ag interface appears to undergo incipient melting, and there i s a layer-like growth (c-axis texture), which extends macroscopically from the Ag interface. The sample-orientation distribution of short-te rm (5 h) annealed samples showed a strong c-axis texture, with the c-a xis aligned nearly perpendicularly to the plane of the tape with no pr eferred alignment of the a- and b-axes.