Quantitative Texture Analysis of melt-cast processed Bi-2212 superconductors

Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ HTSC superconductor is characterized by a very strong normal-state resistivity anisotropy, with ρc/ρab typically above 104. The aim of this study is to use Quantitative Texture Analysis from neutron diffraction measurements to estimate the orientation effect on the macroscopic resistivity (ρM) in melt-cast bulk Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ superconductors. Our approach uses the geometric mean (GMA) [1] of the single crystal resistivity tensor (ρSC) weighted by the Orientation Distribution Function (ODF) to quantitatively estimate the macroscopic resistivity tensor of the samples. The ODF is obtained from neutron Combined Analysis [2], using the E-WIMV algorithm of the MAUD software. The GMA applies to the rank-two resistivity tensor of the orthorhombic space group considered tetragonal due to the small difference of a- and b-axes of the phase, with only two independent tensor components. We relate a relatively good agreement between measured and calculated macroscopic resistivity ratios.