Improved superconducting properties of MgB2
N. A. Frederick, Shi Li, M. B. Maple, V. F. Nesterenko, S. S. Indrakanti
Abstract
We present electrical transport, magnetization, and specific heat measurements on bulk MgB2 samples (T_{c} = 38.5 K) synthesized under 200 MPa pressure using a process based on hot isostatic pressing with cooling under pressure. The samples are fully dense and display excellent superconducting properties, including a narrow superconducting transition width (\Delta T_{c} = 0.75 K), a high upper critical field H_{c2} (H_{c2}(0) ~ 155 kOe), and a critical current density J_{c} that is the largest yet measured for bulk samples of MgB2 (J_{c}(0) ~ 1.4 MA/cm^{2}). Specific heat measurements yielded a jump \Delta C at T_{c} of 92 mJ/mol K. These superconducting properties are comparable to those obtained with techniques that are not so well suited to industrial scale fabrication.