Effect of the precursor powders on the final properties of hot-forged Bi2223 textured discs

The effect of precursor powder assemblage on the phase formation, crystallite orientation and transport critical current density of Bi2223 textured discs has been studied. We observe that starting powder composed of Bi2212 and secondary phases results in a stronger grain alignment than if composed of nearly pure Bi2223. SEM observations and XRD analyses show that the liquid phase produced during the sinter-forging step is essential to achieve sharp orientation distributions and high critical current densities.