Paper detail

In-plane transport anisotropy in BSCCO-Ag multi-filamentary tapes

Composite structures such as High-Tc multi-filamentary tapes display a complex anisotropy arising from the combination of the intrinsic anisotropy of the Bi-2223 grains, and that associated to the superconducting phase distribution in the superconductor-metal composite, as well as cracks and other defects. In this paper we characterize the in-plane anisotropy of BSCCO-Ag tapes, i.e., the difference between the transport properties along the longitudinal axis and those along the transverse direction also lying on the wide face of the tape. In particular, we demonstrate that the dissipation associated to transport along the transverse direction approaches that of the longitudinal direction as the temperature or the current increase, which may be relevant to transport applications in situations where the superconducting properties have significantly degraded.