Observation of unusual irreversible/reversible effects in a macroscopic cylindrical hole drilled in superconducting Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O

Current-voltage (I-V) measurements were carried out for different current sweep rates (dI/dt) of transport current at zero magnetic field (H = 0) and H ≠ 0 in a polycrystalline sample of Bi1.7Pb0.3Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox (BSCCO) with a macroscopic cylindrical hole (CH) drilled. Similar measurements were also performed in the same BSCCO sample without CH for a comparison before drilling CH. For the same values of H, T, and dI/dt taken for both samples, it was observed that hysteresis effects appear in I-V curves upon cycling of transport current in upward and downward directions which contain the increasing and decreasing current values, respectively. However these effects which are seen in I-V curves of BSCCO sample with CH is more prominent than that of the BSCCO sample without CH. Further, the irreversibility effects in I-V curves of the BSCCO sample without CH disappears for H ≠ 0 exhibiting nearly a linear behaviour, whereas the hysteretic behaviour in I-V curves of the BSCCO sample with CH is still observed. This interesting behaviour could be evaluated that macroscopic cylindrical hole improves pinning properties of sample acting as a macroscopic flux pinning center for flux lines.