Transport properties of high-Tc Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ crystals near the superconducting transition

Abstract
We report a multiterminal experiment on BSCCO single crystals in zero magnetic field to study the transport properties from transition to room temperature. In the normal state, analysis of using a linear resistivity model suggests that the system is linear. In transition, current-voltage characteristics of the ab plane, of the c axis, and of the secondary layer using a flux transformer method show nonlinearity. All these nonlinear features can be put into a self-consistent scheme within the context of in-plane thermal excitation of vortices, and an out-of-plane Josephson interaction. © 1996 The American Physical Society.