Fabrication of C Doped ${\hbox {MgB}}_{2}$ Wire Using a Mixture of In-situ and Ex-situ Powders

MgB
₂
wires were fabricated using a mixture of doped
in-situ
and
ex-situ
powders. The effects of the ratio of
ex-situ
to
in-situ
powders on the microstructure and critical properties were evaluated. The wires were processed using a powder-in-tube technique with a series of (MgB
₂
)
_x
+ (Mg + 1.99B + 0.01C)
_1-x
, where x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0. The critical current density (J
_c
) was measured using both magnetization (5 and 20 K, 1-6.5 T) and transport methods (4.2 K, 4-10 T). Microstructural observations revealed a decrease in the number of Kirkendall voids and an increase in core density, while cracks grew along the longitudinal direction of the wire with increasing x. In addition, the Mg from the
in-situ
powder acted as a sintering aid, healing cracks and enhancing the connection between the
in-situ
and
ex-situ
regions. At x = 0.5 and 1.0, the sample had the highest and lowest T
_c
and J
_c
, respectively. On the other hand, the other samples produced using the mixed powders had moderate critical properties, probably due to the mixed morphology of the
in-situ
and
ex-situ
microstructure.