Effects of Bi-Pb substitution in (Bi,Pb)2223 thin films fabricated by sputtering method

Superconducting Bi2-nPbnSr2Ca2Cu3Ox (2223) thin films were deposited by using a multi-target sputtering system. A multi-target system enables the fabrication of thin films with varying compositions. First, we tried to obtain 2223 single-phase films by using the as-grown method. However, it is difficult to remove the influence deficiency of Bi atoms at high temperatures, so only thin films with mixed crystals of Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2Ox (2212) and 2223 were obtained. We next conducted post-annealing to improve the crystallinity of the thin films and studied the effects of substitution of Bi with Pb. As a result, single-phase 2223 thin films with a critical temperature of 108 K were obtained by optimizing the annealing conditions and the thin film composition.