page_title: Bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide
hierarchical_section_title: Bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide
caption_attribution_description: English: A small sample of the high-temperature superconductor, Bi-2223.
context_page_description: Bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide, or BSCCO, is a type of cuprate superconductor having the generalized chemical formula Bi₂Sr₂Caₙ−1CuₙO₂ₙ₊₄₊ₓ, with n = 2 being the most commonly studied compound. Discovered as a general class in 1988, BSCCO was the first high-temperature superconductor which did not contain a rare-earth element.
  It is a cuprate superconductor, an important category of high-temperature superconductors sharing a two-dimensional layered structure with superconductivity taking place in a copper-oxide plane. BSCCO and YBCO are the most studied cuprate superconductors.
  Specific types of BSCCO are usually referred to using the sequence of the numbers of the metallic ions. Thus Bi-2201 is the n = 1 compound, Bi-2212 is the n = 2 compound, and Bi-2223 is the n = 3 compound.
  The BSCCO family is analogous to a thallium family of high-temperature superconductors referred to as TBCCO and having the general formula Tl₂Ba₂Caₙ−1CuₙO₂ₙ₊₄₊ₓ, and a mercury family HBCCO of formula HgBa₂Caₙ−1CuₙO₂ₙ₊₂₊ₓ. There are a number of other variants of these superconducting families.
context_section_description: Bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide, or BSCCO (pronounced "bisko"), is a type of cuprate superconductor having the generalized chemical formula Bi₂Sr₂Caₙ−1CuₙO₂ₙ₊₄₊ₓ, with n = 2 being the most commonly studied compound (though n = 1 and n = 3 have also received significant attention). Discovered as a general class in 1988, BSCCO was the first high-temperature superconductor which did not contain a rare-earth element. 
  It is a cuprate superconductor, an important category of high-temperature superconductors sharing a two-dimensional layered (perovskite) structure (see figure at right) with superconductivity taking place in a copper-oxide plane. BSCCO and YBCO are the most studied cuprate superconductors.
  Specific types of BSCCO are usually referred to using the sequence of the numbers of the metallic ions. Thus Bi-2201 is the n = 1 compound (Bi₂Sr₂CuO₆₊ₓ), Bi-2212 is the n = 2 compound (Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈₊ₓ), and Bi-2223 is the n = 3 compound (Bi₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O₁₀₊ₓ).
  The BSCCO family is analogous to a thallium family of high-temperature superconductors referred to as TBCCO and having the general formula Tl₂Ba₂Caₙ−1CuₙO₂ₙ₊₄₊ₓ, and a mercury family HBCCO of formula HgBa₂Caₙ−1CuₙO₂ₙ₊₂₊ₓ. There are a number of other variants of these superconducting families. In general, their critical temperature at which they become superconducting rises for the first few members and then falls. Thus Bi-2201 has Tc ≈ 33 K, Bi-2212 has Tc ≈ 96 K, Bi-2223 has Tc ≈ 108 K, and Bi-2234 has Tc ≈ 104 K. This last member is very difficult to synthesize.
caption: A piece of cuprate of bismuth and strontium: this piece is a cube with an edge of nearly 1 mm.
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