Preparation of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconductors by the floating-zone melting method

The authors succeeded in obtaining highly oriented crystalline samples of 2212 Bi-Sr-Ca-Ca-O superconductors by the floating-zone melting method. The critical current densities Jc were largely dependent on the degree of crystalline alignment obtained from a ratio of X-ray diffraction line intensities. For a highly oriented crystal, the authors obtained a value for Jc of 14800 A cm-2 at 77.3 K in the absence of a magnetic field.