Magnetization AC losses in MgB2 wires made by IMD process

Abstract

Magnetization AC losses of MgB2 superconductors with one and four filaments made by an internal magnesium diffusion (IMD) into boron process were measured and analyzed. For AC loss measurement a system based on a calibration-free method was used. Short samples of MgB2 wires were exposed to an external magnetic field with amplitudes up to 0.07 T, frequencies up to 1200 Hz, and a temperature range between 15 K and 40 K. A strong effect of eddy current losses was found in single-core wire containing pure copper sheath, which was proved by the same wire measurement after Cu etching. The impact of coupling current losses in non-twisted four-filament wire and the decoupling effect after twisting were observed. Coupling current losses in a low-frequency region were effectively reduced in agreement with theoretical assumption. The degradation of transport currents due to torsion stress by twisting was taken into account and the normalized AC losses of MgB2 wires made by IMD and powder-in-tube processes were compared. It appears that the IMD process is more perspective for AC applications due to much higher current densities and smaller degradation of current-carrying capability by twisting.