Bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide

Bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide, or BSCCO (pronounced "bisko"), is a family of high-temperature superconductors having the generalized chemical formula Bi₂Sr₂Ca_n-1Cu_nO_2n+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.