Influence of Pr content on the kinetics of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta phase formation

Reaction kinetics of high critical temperature superconductors (HTS) has be en less studied than their superconducting properties. Usually, doped sampl es are prepared by solid-state reaction method from oxides and carbonate po wders in the same sintering conditions as applied for non-doped samples. Th is fact has caused publication of different results in the literature about the solubility limit in HTS. Thus, in order to obtain more information abo ut the influence of Pr on the Ca site of the Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta (Bi2212) p hase, we have studied in this work the kinetics of phase formation in the B i2212 + Pr system. To investigate the phases formed during sintering at 820 degreesC, several samples of different Pr content were analyzed by X-ray p owder diffractometry after various sintering durations (6-1500 h). We obser ved that increasing Pr content, the sintering time necessary to prepare sin gle phase samples increases significantly at same temperature. (C) 2001 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.