Microstructural variations with uranium compound doping of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O/Ag superconducting tapes

Doping of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O based silver sheathed superconducting tapes (BSCCO/Ag) with various uranium compounds was carried out. This work was aimed at minimising the detrimental effects of doping to allow for later irradiation and fission to create columnar defects for strong flux pinning. The effects on the transport current density of BSCCO/Ag of doping with a variety of uranium compounds up to 2 at% was determined. Microstructural changes due to the doping were investigated. Removal of elements from the BSCCO matrix by uranium compound dopants was studied by energy dispersive spectroscopy. It was found that UCa/sub 1.5/Sr/sub 1.5/O/sub 6/ least degraded electrical performance and microstructure, as it removed the least elements from the matrix. It would appear that UCa/sub 1.5/Sr/sub 1.5/O/sub 6/ most closely approximates an ideal BSCCO compatible uranium compound, but it still removes some amount of copper.