BSCCO 2212 Defective Tellurium Ions on Bi-Site

BSCCO 2212 superconducting samples, doped Tellurium, with the chemical formula Bi2-xTexSr2CaCu2O8, were prepared by the conventional solid state reaction technique. The prepared samples were studied utilizing XRD, DC-electrical conductivity and SEM. XRD spectra indicated that 2212 with tetragonal structure is the major phase, whereas Bi-2201 and CaTeO4 are minor phases. At higher Te-additions x, traces from some other semi conducting phases were detected. The critical transition temperature Tcoffset was found to decrease non-linearly with x, which attributed to the hole filling caused by the liberated electrons of Te4+ ions. For x–values in the range 0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.4, the steepness of (ρ vs T) relationship increases abruptly around 150 K; this was attributed to change in the oxygen vacancy feature (phase-like transition). SEM photographs revealed that as Te-content increases the compactness of the surface and the connectivity of the grains decreases, while pores and voids increase as a result of decreasing the amount of Bi and presence of multiple-phases in the sample.