Fingerprint of $T_c$ advancement in Li-doped Bi-2223 superconductors prepared by cationic molecular mixing within Pechini sol-gel synthesis

TL;DR

This study introduces a novel sol-gel synthesis method for Li-doped Bi-2223 superconductors, achieving high critical temperatures and revealing detailed microstructural and flux dynamics insights.

Contribution

It presents an advanced Pechini sol-gel synthesis route for Li-doped Bi-2223, demonstrating improved efficiency and detailed analysis of superconducting properties and microstructure.

Findings

Highest $T_c$ of 111.4 K at 5 molar~% Li doping

Layer-by-layer crystalline phase growth observed

Flux creep mechanism characterized by Anderson-Müller model

Abstract

Trilayered Bi-2223 superconductor features the highest critical temperature $T_c$ among the bismuth-based cuprate collection and symbolizes an ideal prototype for studying intrinsic superconducting properties. The previous solid-state reaction method substantiated the growth of the high-quality Bi-2223 compounds but was accompanied by excessively laborious time and effort in terms of multiple grinding, pressing, as well as calcining stages, %causing risk of constituent loss, so finding a less tedious synthesis path is imperative. Here, we present an advanced sol-gel synthesis for assembling the multicomponent complexity of Bi1.4Pb0.6Sr2Ca2(Cu1-xLix)3O10 superconductors (Li-doped Bi-2223), with $x$ = 0.0--0.20, utilizing metallic cationic molecular mixing within the chemical Pechini polyesterization route followed by single-step pyrolysis and sintering stages. Although monovalent cations such as Li$^+$ pose limitations in establishing a perplex crosslinking network or chelating mechanism in the Pechini method, they represent a unique probe to elucidate the major chemical process during polymerization. We observe that a 5 molar~\% Li-doped sample pronounces the highest $T_c$ = 111.4 K among the series of samples, as confirmed by both ac susceptibility and dc resistivity measurements, and is equivalent to the value obtained by our preceding solid state fabrication. In addition, we showcase a rare observation of layer-by-layer crystalline phase growth under microstructure probe. Through analyzing the reliable ac susceptibility data at low magnetic fields in a wide range of frequency, we provide the quantum flux formation and flux creep mechanism by Anderson-M\"uller's model and Cole-Cole plot.