Synthesis and Characterization of Ni{sub 1−x}Cu{sub x}Bi{sub 3} Superconductor

• Published in: Journal of superconductivity and novel magnetism Vol. 31; no. 4
• Main Authors: Leal, Adriane Consuelo da Silva, Siqueira, Franciele Nunes de, Pereira, Gislaine, Opata, Yuri Aparecido, Siqueira, Ezequiel Costa, Monteiro, João Frederico Haas Leandro, Jurelo, Alcione Roberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 15.04.2018
• Subjects: ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY; CONCENTRATION RATIO; CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; COPPER; CRYSTAL STRUCTURE; DOPED MATERIALS; MICROSTRUCTURE; NICKEL COMPOUNDS; POLYCRYSTALS; RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY; SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; SUPERCONDUCTORS; SYNTHESIS; TRANSITION TEMPERATURE; X-RAY DIFFRACTION
• ISSN: 1557-1939; 1557-1947
• DOI: 10.1007/S10948-017-4304-1

In this paper, we characterized the microstructure and superconducting properties of Cu-doped NiBi{sub 3} samples. The polycrystalline Ni{sub 1−x}Cu{sub x}Bi{sub 3} (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) samples were prepared using a solid-state reaction method. The crystal structure and unit cell parameters were determined by Rietveld refinement of powder X-ray diffraction. The data showed that the main phase present corresponded to NiBi{sub 3} without dependence on the Cu concentration, but with small quantities of Ni and Bi. The SEM and AFM measurements revealed that the main phase was inhomogeneous at microscopic level, with Bi richer regions in comparison to other regions. However, Raman spectroscopy results did not show significant changes in the spectra with Cu doping and in different regions of the samples. Another finding was that regardless of Cu doping, the superconducting transition temperature was 4.05–4.06 K.