DC and AC susceptibility study of sol–gel synthesized Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ superconductor

We study DC susceptibility along with amplitude and frequency dependence of AC susceptibility of sol–gel synthesized polycrystalline samples of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi-2212) sintered at different temperatures. In particular, it is demonstrated that susceptibility techniques are an effective tool to characterize granular characteristics of high temperature superconductors. The results are discussed in the framework of Bean's critical state model whence the field and temperature dependence of critical current density is determined. Flux pinning force density is calculated and possibility of the pinning mechanisms prevalent in type II superconductors are investigated. Flux creep activation energy is determined in the light of vortex dynamics exhibited by frequency dependence of AC susceptibility. Since polycrystalline samples are granular in nature, we calculated grain volume fraction and separated the contribution of grain and matrix susceptibility from total measured AC susceptibility. We establish that increase in the sintering temperature not only changes the grain morphology but affects the superconducting properties significantly, validating the impact of grain boundaries on superconducting performance of studied Bi-2212 superconductor.