Superconductivity in Dense $MgB_2$ Wires

Abstract

$MgB_2$ becomes superconducting just below 40 K. Whereas porous polycrystalline samples of $MgB_2$ can be synthesized from boron powders, in this letter we demonstrate that dense wires of $MgB_2$ can be prepared by exposing boron filaments to $Mg$ vapor. The resulting wires have a diameter of 160 $μm$, are better than 80% dense and manifest the full $χ= -1/4π$ shielding in the superconducting state. Temperature-dependent resistivity measurements indicate that $MgB_2$ is a highly conducting metal in the normal state with $ρ(40 K)$ = 0.38 $μOhm$-$cm$. Using this value, an electronic mean free path, $l \approx 600~Å$ can be estimated, indicating that $MgB_2$ wires are well within the clean limit. $T_c$, $H_{c2}(T)$, and $J_c$ data indicate that $MgB_2$ manifests comparable or better superconducting properties in dense wire form than it manifests as a sintered pellet.