Collapse of irreversible field of superconducting Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+δ/Ag tapes with columnar defects

Abstract

We found that the irreversible field of the c-axis oriented superconducting Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+δ (Bi-2223) tapes irradiated with 5.8 GeV Pb ions collapsed at temperatures approximately 75% of Tc regardless of fluence. This result may indicate an ultimate limit for the field application of Bi-2223/Ag tapes at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K), since the columnar defects produced by heavy ions are the most efficient pinning centers known so far for the flux lines in a layered superconducting system.