Small Magnetic Hysteresis in Bi2223 Polycrystalline High-Temperature Superconductor

Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O polycrystalline high-temperature superconductors with the 2-2-2-3 structure have been comprehensively studied, their properties have been described, and features of the small magnetic hysteresis in the investigated materials have been established. The small magnetic hysteresis is shown to be caused by the penetration of a magnetic flux into a superconductor and its capture in the region of boundaries between HTS crystallites and by Meissner currents flowing through these boundaries. It has been found that, at a certain magnetic prehistory, the small hysteresis collapses, i.e. its footprints disappear. This has been attributed to the interaction between two superconducting subsystems in the investigated polycrystalline HTS, specifically, the effect of the magnetic moments of HTS crystallites on the effective field in the regions of intercrystalline boundaries. The shape of the small magnetic hysteresis loop has been described within the critical state model.