ENHANCED CRITICAL-CURRENT DENSITY IN MULTILAYERED AG (BI, PB)-2223 TAPES FABRICATED BY THE TAPE-IN-TUBE METHOD/

Multilayered Ag/(Bi, Pb)-2223 tapes comprising 10 elements were fabric ated by the conventional wire-in-tube (WIT) method as well as a tape-i n-tube (TIT) technique under identical thermomechanical conditions. Th e critical current densities of the TIT tapes were found to be more th an three times those of the WIT tapes. Microstructural examination of the tape sections showed that the TIT method yields very uniform layer s of the superconductor (SC) and Ag with the SC-AS interface area more than twice that of the WIT tapes for the same SC and Ag ratio. The la rger SC-Ag interface area and the improved texturing of the TIT tapes due to the use of pretextured monolayered tapes were found to be the r easons for the J(c) enhancement.