A new approach to a superconducting joining process for carbon-doped MgB₂ conductor

We report a new approach to a superconducting joining process for unreacted in situ carbon (C)-doped magnesium diboride (MgB₂) wires. To operate a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) magnet in the persistent mode, the superconducting joints between two conductors are as critical as the other key components. In addition, a stable and reliable joining process enables the superconducting magnet to operate without an external power supply. However, joint results using unreacted in situ C-doped MgB₂ wires, which are used for high-field operation, have been limited, and only very poor performance has been obtained. By controlling the pressure inside a joint part, in this study, we successfully obtained current carrying retention in the joint of up to 72% compared to wire without a joint. The closed-circuit resistance of our closed-loop coil was less than 1.8 × 10⁻¹³ Ω at 16.7 ± 4.7 K, as measured by the field-decay measurement method. These results indicate that MgB₂ has a promising future in MRI application. (paper)