Critical role of phase transformation during processing of Ag/Bi:2223 tapes

A study investigated phase transformation and phase assemblage in Ag/Bi-2223 tapes annealed at different temperatures using a two-step sintering. One of the experimental results confirm previous research findings that a quench in between thermal cycles circumvents decomposition and recovery process of Ag/Bi-2223 process. The total heat treatment time can be reduced to 30h. Findings also suggest that by-products of phase decomposition at certain temperature ranges are adequately fine enough to function as pinning centers, although more work is required to clarify the pinning mechanism.