Preparation of SiC doped In-Situ MgB2 mono- and 7-filamentary wires by continuous tube forming and filling technique

Abstract

Long lengths of in-situ SiC doped MgB2/Fe mono- filamentary wires with high critical current densities and 7- filamentary MgB2/Nb/Cu/Fe wires with better thermal stability have been fabricated by either continuous tube forming & filling (CTFF) technique or combining both powder in tube (PIT) and CTFF process, respectively. Particular efforts were made in view of the optimization of the manufacturing and annealing processes of the wires. The as obtained wires were sintered under a vacuum furnace at different sintering temperatures and the optimized sintering of the MgB2 wires were investigated by the analysis of optical microscope, XRD, SEM, and the transport Jc measurements. The Jc value in a 8 at.% SiC doped MgB2/Fe mono- filamentary wire is more than 104A/cm2 at 4.2 K and a field of 11 T. While in doped 7- filamentary wire, the similar Jc value (104A/cm2) is obtained at 4.2 K and a field of 7.5 T. Moreover, the n factors are determined to be 33 and 10 at 11 T in the mono- and 7- filamentary MgB2wires with SiC doping, respectively, indicating the possibility to use the as fabricated MgB2 wires in the persistent mode for fields from 0.5 T to 10 T at 4.2 K.