Critical Current Density and Flux Pinning Properties in Superconducting MgB₂ with and without SiC Doping

Abstract

It is well known that SiC doping in superconducting MgB2 improves the upper critical magnetic field (Bc2) and the critical current density (Jc) under high magnetic field. However, the relationship between SiC doping and the flux pinning mechanism has not been clarified. In this study, several MgB2 samples with and without SiC doping were prepared by the conventional in situ powder-in-tube method. The critical current densities and the force-displacement characteristics of fluxoids in samples were investigated by an ac inductive measurement (Campbell’s method). The Labusch parameter (αL) and the interaction distance (di) were estimated from the obtained force-displacement profile. It was found that SiC doping enhances the values of αL, but does not change the characteristics of the magnetic field dependence of αL apparently. Namely, αL vs. B3/2 characteristics in the pure samples and SiC doped samples are almost the same. Such a result of αL properties implies that the pinning mechanism in the SiC doped samples could be consistent with the conventional pinning theory. On the other hand, di, which is considered to be proportional to the size of pinning potential, decreases rapidly with increasing magnetic field, especially in the pure samples. For high magnetic field region, the variations of di were deduced to be caused by flux creep. The depth of pinning potential, U0, was estimated by using the values of αL and di. The values of U0 give evidence of that SiC doping can prevent the flux bundles moving to another pinning center under high magnetic field.