Microwave Properties of In Situ Grown MgB2 Superconducting Thin Films

The electrodynamic response at 20 GHz of c-axis oriented MgB₂ superconducting thin films is reported. Mg-rich Mg-B precursor samples were grown on MgO and Al₂O₃ single crystal substrates by a d.c. planar magnetron sputtering technique, and subsequently annealed in situ at 800°C for 10 min in a In-sealed Nb box in the presence of saturated Mg vapor. The films were characterized by a variety of structural and electronic techniques including XRD, EDS, STM-AFM analyses, and transport measurements. The dependence of the surface impedance from temperature and radiofrequency (r.f.) field amplitude was measured via a dielectric resonator technique. Temperature data clearly confirm the s-wave nature of the newly discovered superconductor, even if the value of the energy gap is smaller than BCS prediction. An effective two-band model can be applied to quantitatively explain the experimental results. In spite of previous reports claiming the absence of weak link behavior in MgB₂, the power dependence show that granularity governs the performance of these films in the microwave region.     

Fabrication of Flexible Superconducting Wiring with High Current-Carrying Capacity Indium Interconnects

The X-ray integral field unit (X-IFU) is a cryogenic spectrometer for the Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics (ATHENA). ATHENA is a planned next-generation space-based X-ray observatory with capabilities that surpass the spectral resolution of prior missions. Proposed device designs contain up to 3840 transition edge sensors, each acting as an individual pixel on the detector, presenting a unique challenge for wiring superconducting leads in the focal plane assembly. In prototypes that require direct wiring, the edges of X-IFU focal plane have hosted aluminum wirebonding pads; however, indium (In) ‘bumps’ deposited on an interface layer such as molybdenum nitride (MoN) can instead be used as an array of superconducting interconnects. We investigated bumped MoN:In structures with different process cleans and layer thicknesses. Measurements of the resistive transitions showed variation of transition temperature T_c as a function of bias and generally differed from the expected bulk T_c of In (3.41 K). Observed resistance of the In bump structures at temperatures below the MoN transition (at 8.0 K) also depended on the varied parameters. For our proposed X-IFU geometry (10 µm of In mated to a 1-µm In bump), we measured a minimum T_c of 3.14 K at a bias current of 3 mA and a normal resistance of 0.59 mΩ per interconnect. We also investigated the design and fabrication of superconducting niobium (Nb) microstrip atop flexible polyimide. We present a process for integrating In bumps with the flexible Nb leads to enable high-density wiring for the ATHENA X-IFU focal plane.     

On the Scaling Law of the Pinning Force in MgB2 Superconducting Composites with Magnetic Nanoinclusions

Dense superconducting composites with magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by spark plasma sintering. In addition to structure and magnetic properties, we focused on the pinning properties as described by the field and temperature dependence of the scaled pinning force analyzed. We found that the pinning force does not obey any scaling law and attributed this effect to the anisotropy of the MgB₂ and the almost random distribution of the orientation of the superconducting grains within the polycrystalline sample.     

MgB2超导纳米结构的制备技术

系统综述了MgB2超导纳米结构的制备方法,包括基于广义模板法的两步法或多步法、反应烧结法、基于电子束刻蚀技术、高温直接分解法、溶胶-凝胶法和混合物理化学气相沉积法等。总结了MgB2超导纳米结构的生长机理,并且评价了这些方法的优缺点。     

Superconducting Gap in the Multi-band System MgB2

Based on the angle-resolved photoemission spectra of single crystals, it is demonstrated that a couple of bands cross the Fermi energy in MgB₂, which is in good agreement with band theory. The superconducting gap in this multiband system is carefully examined by Raman scattering spectroscopy with various polarizations. It has been revealed that the large gap (24k _B T _c) that is typical for a clean limit s-wave superconductor is restricted to the -bands, while the gap on the -bands is much smaller (21.1k _B T _c) and strongly affected by the impurity scattering, which gives a dirty limit behavior. This unusual two-gap behavior might be caused by the lack of interband scattering due to special separation of the - and -bands, as predicted by Mazin et al.     

High Energy Milled Ex Situ MgB2 as Precursor for Superconducting Tapes Without Critical Current Anisotropy

One lane of the present MgB₂ research is focused on scale-up of the conductor preparation for magnet applications. One limitation is the deformation of long length powder in tube conductors since the composite structure leads to a couple of complications. Therefore, a combination of various methods is commonly used: swaging, drawing, and flat rolling. In dense tapes deformed via distinct routes, a critical current anisotropy with respect to an external magnetic field is observed. The in situ method (unreacted Mg+B) is preferably used for conductor preparation, with the advantage offering more doping possibilities for the precursors to create flux pinning centers and to enhance the upper critical field and supporting a dense filament. In this work, we show in concurrence to the commonly preferred route, the possibility and potential of ex situ conductor preparation schemes, with the option of carbon doping, using high energy milling. Long multifilament tapes with 20 hours milled powder without carbon and with 5?wt% C were successfully deformed to wires and tapes. Tapes with 21 cores show critical current densities with J _c=10⁴?A/cm² at B=8.8?T without any current anisotropy in different field-direction different to the case of the in situ conductors.     

Degradation of Superconducting Properties in MgB2 by Formation of the MgB4 Phase

Superconducting MgB₂ polycrystalline samples have been fabricated under two different conditions in order to determine the effect of MgB₄ phase. A series of samples was placed in an α-alumina container closed with a cup and fired under high purity argon gas. The other series of samples was placed in an α-alumina boot without any lid and fired under similar conditions. For the first series of samples, we have found pure MgB₂ phase formation and a narrow transition width at 0.4 K. For the second series of samples, significant amount of MgB₄ phase were formed and the T _zero was decreased to 27 K. For both the group of samples magnetization hysteresis loops obtained at various temperature range and applied field up to 2 T. The best J _cmag for the first series of samples was 1.9 × 10⁵ A/cm² at 10 K and 0 T, and for the second series of samples was 0.7 × 10⁴ A/cm² at 10 K and 0 T.     

二硼化镁超导线带材及磁体应用研究进展

由于具有超导转变温度（39K）较高,晶体结构简单,原材料成本低廉以及长线制备容易等一系列特点,金属间化合物二硼化镁（ MgB2）超导体自2001年被日本科学家发现以来,引起人们广泛的关注,被认为是目前最有可能首先实现大规模工业应用的超导材料。尤其在制冷机工作温度（15～20 K）、较低磁场（1～2 T）条件下的医疗核磁共振成像仪（ MRI）超导磁体应用上有着广泛的前景。本文主要围绕实用化 MgB2超导长线（带）制备研究而展开,重点回顾了近年来粉末套管法、连续粉末装管成型法及中心镁扩散法等MgB2超导线（带）材制备及加工方面的最新研究进展;同时综述了在 MgB2超导线带材工程临界电流密度性能改进方面的最新研究工作;最后,对近几年来 MgB2超导磁体及线圈等应用研究进展进行了回顾。     

Fabrication and Properties of MgB2 Coated Superconducting Tapes

We present the formation of MgB₂ coatings by simple and novel aerosol deposition technique which has a potential to escalate towards the fabrication of long superconducting tapes. The thin MgB₂ coatings were produced by using pre-synthesized MgB₂ powder. The ability of this technique to form a precursor powder in a thin film form has greatly reduced the intricacies involved in the synthesis of MgB₂ by other techniques like hybrid physical chemical vapor deposition etc. The as-synthesized thin films were characterized by the x-ray diffraction technique to study the structural properties. The thin films were found to be x-ray amorphous in nature depicting the formation of frustrated structure which showed a superconducting transition onset at around 36 K.     

Anisotropic Superconducting Properties of MgB2 and Related Compounds

Anisotropic superconducting properties of inter-metallic compounds MgB₂, Y₂PdGe₃, and CaAlSi with AlB₂ structure are studied by detailed angular dependent transport measurements. MgB₂ and CaAlSi shows appreciable anisotropy of the upper critical field, H _c2, with mass anisotropy parameter =3 and 2, respectively, while Y₂PdGe₃ is almost isotropic. In-plane anisotropy of H _c2 in these hexagonal superconductors is very small, consistent with the prediction based on GL theory.     

Deposition and Properties of Superconducting MgB2 Thin Films

The recently discovered superconductor MgB₂ with T _c at 39 K has great potential in superconducting electronics. In this paper, we review the deposition techniques used for MgB₂ thin films in the light of a thermodynamic study of the Mg-B system with the calculation of phase diagrams (CALPHAD) modeling technique. This thermodynamic study identifies a growth window in the pressure–temperature phase diagram, in which the magnesium pressure is very high for likely in situ growth temperatures. A Hybrid Physical–Chemical Vapor Deposition (HPCVD) technique that successfully achieves such a high Mg pressure is shown to produce in situ epitaxial MgB₂ thin films with bulk superconducting properties.     

MgB2超导膜制备技术

介绍了自MgB2超导电性被发现以来,用于制备MgB2薄膜/厚膜的各种基片、主要生长方法以及退火工艺,简单概述了薄膜制作超导隧道结方面的研究状况.     

Pinning Properties of Cold-Processed MgB2 Composite Superconducting Tapes

Superconducting tapes from MgB₂ and powders of magnetic Ni, Co, and non-magnetic Ti were fabricated by cold-processed powder-in-tube (PIT) method. The cupronickel was used as sheath material and no heat treatment was applied. The increasing of critical current was observed in the samples with additions of nickel and titanium. The microstructure and phase analysis of tape core was performed by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. A direct correlation between type and amount of additives, and the critical current of the tapes has been observed.     

Flux Dynamics and Time Dependent Effects in Superconducting MgB2

We have investigated the time dependent flux motion in a polycrystalline superconducting MgB₂ sample by means of current-voltage (I?CV curves) and transport relaxation (V?Ct curves) measurements. The transport measurements were carried out as functions of temperature (T), transport current (I), and applied magnetic field (H). The time effects in the I?CV curves were investigated with the help of the sweep rate of transport current (dI/dt). The I?CV curves exhibit nearly reversible behavior for both slow and high current sweep rates (dI/dt) upon cycling the transport current. It was observed that the evolution of the I?CV curves is nearly independent of dI/dt. The small instabilities, voltage jump, and drops appearing at low dissipation levels were interpreted as a kind of plastic flow of the vortices evolving in the form of stripe or cluster in different sizes and local fluctuations in the superconducting order parameter. It was shown that the experimental I?CV curves are in good agreement with a power law behavior, V(I)??I ⁿ . The pinning potential U ₀ extracted from the fitting procedure is found to be approximately independent of dI/dt. In addition to the standard procedure, a reverse procedure was employed to study how the transport current (or associated vortices) penetrates from the surface into the sample. It was found that there is no marked difference between the I?CV curves obtained in the standard and reverse procedures. These results suggest that, in polycrystalline MgB₂, the weak links between grains (standard procedure) and surface weak links (reverse procedure) do not have a considerable effect on the evolution of the I?CV curves and also on the other transport measurements. In order to understand better the flux dynamics, the experimental results for polycrystalline MgB₂ sample were compared to previous similar studies on superconducting Y₁Ba₂Cu₃O_7?x (YBCO) and Bi_1.7Pb_0.3Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O _x (BSCCO) polycrystalline samples.     

原位合成TiB_2-SiC基复合材料

碳化硅材料具有许多优良的性能，采用原位合成碳化硅基复合材料已经成为当前研究的一大热点。本文对近年来采取原位合成ＴｉＢ２来增强增韧碳化硅基复合材料作了简要综述。     

Superconducting Performance of Ex-situ SiC Doped MgB2 Monofilamentary Tapes

The superconducting performance of the ex-situ SiC doped MgB₂ monofilamentary tapes are reported. Polycrystalline powders of MgB₂ doped with 5 and 10 wt% SiC were synthesized by a conventional solid-state reaction route and characterized for their superconducting performances. It was found that the superconducting parameters viz., upper critical field (H _c2), irreversibility field (H _irr) and critical current density (J _c) were improved significantly with SiC addition. It was also found that relatively lower synthesis temperature resulted in further improved superconducting parameters in comparison to higher synthesis temperature. Thus, synthesized powders are used for the fabrication of ex-situ powder-in-tube (PIT) monofilamentary tapes. The superconducting performance in terms of critical current density (J _c), being determined from both magnetization (J _cm) and transport (J _ct) measurements, was improved significantly. In particular, the SiC doped MgB₂ tapes (fabricated using 700 °C heat treated bulk powder) exhibited the transport J _ct of nearly 10⁴ A/cm² under applied fields of as high as 7 Tesla. Further, it was found that the J _ct anisotropy decreases significantly for SiC doped tapes. Disorder due to substitution of C at B site being created from broken SiC and the presence of nano SiC respectively in SiC added ex-situ MgB₂ tapes was responsible for decreased anisotropy and improved J _c(H) performance.     

Magnetization Loss of MgB2 Superconducting Wire at Various Temperatures

The magnetization loss of MgB₂ wire was investigated using numerical calculations based on the finite element method. Various superconducting properties of MgB₂ wire such as nonlinearity and the field dependence of the critical current were considered in the numerical formulation. An analysis of magnetization loss was carried out as a function of the external magnetic field for a wide range of operating temperatures. The numerical results were compared with conventional theories and were found to be in relatively good agreement. An alternate approach based on a normalization method using critical current data was also employed as a simple method for predicting magnetization loss. The effectiveness of the simple equation for predicting loss was verified by comparisons of both values for various temperatures.     

快速凝固法制备大尺寸MgB2超导体

简单化合物MgB2超导性的发现引起了世界科学家对其组织结构、超导原理、制备方法及应用前景的广泛兴趣.针对MgB2单晶制备过程中存在镁的气化温度很低,MgB2在镁的沸点以下溶解度很小等不利因素,在国际上率先提出了从过冷熔体中的相选择与控制入手,采用深过冷快速定向凝固技术来制备高品质、大尺寸MgB2单晶的新思路.