The enhanced Jc and Birr of in situ MgB2 wires and tapes alloyed with C4H6O5 (malic acid) after cold high pressure densification

Cold high pressure densification, a method recently introduced at GAP in Geneva, was applied for improving the transport critical current density, Jc, and the irreversibility field, Birr, of monofilamentary in situ MgB2 wires and tapes alloyed with 10 wt% C4H6O5 (malic acid). Tapes densified at 1.48 GPa exhibited after reaction an enhancement of Jc from 2 to 4 x 104 A cm-2 at 4.2 K/10 T and from 0.5 to 4 x 104 A cm-2 at 20 K/5 T, while the Birr was enhanced from 19.3 to 22 T at 4.2 K and from 7.5 to 10.0 T at 20 K. Cold densification also caused a strong enhancement of B(104), the field at which Jc takes the value 1 x 104 A cm-2. For tapes subjected to 1.48 GPa, B(104)|| and B(104)perpendicular at 4.2 K were found to increase from 11.8 and 10.5 T to 13.2 and 12.2 T, respectively. Almost isotropic conditions were obtained for rectangular wires with aspect ratios a/b<2 subjected to 2.0 GPa, where B(104)||=12.7 and B(104)perpendicular=12.5 T were obtained. At 20 K, the wires exhibited an almost isotropic behavior, with B(104)||=5.9 T and B(104)perpendicular=5.75 T, Birr(20 K) being ∼10 T. These values are equal to or higher than the highest values reported so far for isotropic in situ wires with SiC or other carbon based additives. Further improvements are expected on optimizing the cold high pressure densification process, which has the potential for fabrication of MgB2 wires of industrial lengths.