Enhancement in T-c of superconducting BPSCCO thick films due to irradiation of energetic argon ions of dense plasma focus

The highly energetic high fluence argon ions that are generated in dense pl asma focus (DPF) device are used for the first time for the enhancement in T-c of superconducting BPSCCO thick films. These films are in mixed phase 2 212 (T-c = 85 K) and 2223 (T-c = 110 K) prepared by screen printing techniq ue. They are exposed to the ions of DPF axially above the anode at various distances. T-c of the films irradiated at a particular distance have been f ound to increase with maximum of 15 K. XRD peaks also confirm the presence of high T-c (2223) phase of BPSCCO only, for the films for which increase i n T-c is 15 K. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.