Growth and characterization of (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox single crystals

(Bi,Pb)(2)Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox (2223) single crystals have been grown using a fused-salt reaction of Bi2O3, PbO, SrCl2, CaCl2, CuCl, and KNO3 in a KCl flux. The pristine crystals show regular plate-like morphology with typical dimension of 0.1 x 0.1 x 0.001-0.01 mm(3). Crystal orientation, chemical composition, phase purity, and superconductivity of the pristine crystals were determined by SEM, TEM, EDX, x-ray diffraction techniques, and SQUID magnetometry. The relative fraction of the Bi-2223 phase (T-c = 110 K) in as-grown crystals is similar to 97%. The only impurity phase, Bi-2212, occurs in some selected crystals but is present in amounts less than the detection limit of x-ray diffraction and is unobserved in the diamagnetic signal determined by SQUID magnetometry.