Temperature and Magnetic Field Dependence of the $n$-Values of ${\hbox{MgB}}_{2}$ Superconductors

We analyse the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the power-law n-values characterizing the electric field-current density (E-J) curves of MgB
₂
superconducting samples. This is done by means of magnetic relaxation measurements, using the normalized relaxation rate of irreversible magnetization M
_irr
, S = -dlnM
_irr
/dlnt, which directly relates to the E-J curve E infin J
ⁿ
with the n-exponent approximately equal to 1 + 1/S. The study has been done at temperatures and fields ranging from (T = 5 K, B = 1 T) and up to (T, B) near the irreversibility line. Different samples such as undoped and SiC-doped bulk samples and wires have been analysed. We have observed a strong decrease in the n-values when increasing temperature and magnetic field with some differences among the analysed samples. We found correlation between critical current density (J
_c
) and n-values. The J
_c
(T, B) and n(T, B) dependences show striking similarities and the high n-values (n > 30) are always related to the high critical current densities (J
_c
> 10
⁸
A/m
²
).