Magnesium diboride(MgB₂) wires for applications

Field and temperature dependence of the critical current density, Jc, were measured for both un-doped and carbon doped $MgB_2/Nb/Monel$ wires manufactured by Hyper Tech Research, Inc. In particular, carbon incorporation into the $MgB_2$ structure using malic acid additive and a chemical solution method can be advantageous because of the highly uniform mixing between the carbon and boron powders. At 4.2 K and 10 T, Jc was estimated to be $25,000-25,300Acm^{-2}$ for the wire sintered at $600^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours. The irreversibility field, $B_{irr}$, of the malic acid doped wire was approximately 21.0 - 21.8 T, as obtained from a linear extrapolation of the J-B characteristic. Interestingly enough, the Jc of the malic acid doped sample exceeds $10^5Acm^{-2}$ at 6 T and 4.2 K, which is comparable to that of commercial Nb-Ti wires.