High-temperature neutron diffraction study of the melting behavior of Bi2CaSr2Cu2Ox

Abstract
High‐temperature neutron powder diffraction has been used to study the melting, and subsequent reformation, behavior of Bi2CaSr2Cu2Ox (2122), the 80 K transition temperature oxide superconductor. It was found that the (2122) substantially reforms upon return to a temperature just below the peritectic melting point of the material. This finding implies that difficulties encountered in melt processing this material may be due largely to gross segregation of the constituents while the material is partially molten, as opposed to slow formation kinetics for this species.