Influence of Ag, Cu and Fe sheaths on MgB₂superconducting tapes

Abstract

Copper, iron and silver MgB2 sheathed tapes have been manufactured under different conditions. It has been found that copper-sheathed tapes can show a higher critical current density than iron-sheathed tapes if heat-treated at temperatures below 850 °C. The influence of different overall mechanical deformation rates has been studied for tapes sheathed by all three types of metals. By increasing the deformation rate the critical current density was improved by about an order of magnitude in the case of the copper-sheathed tapes, while the critical current density of the iron-sheathed tapes remained constant.