Intrawire resistance, AC loss and strain dependence of critical current in MgB2 wires with and without cold high-pressure densification

The intrawire resistance and alternating current (AC) loss of two MgB2 wires with filaments surrounded by Nb barriers have been measured and analyzed. Relatively high values of filament-to-matrix contact resistivity are found in the MgB2 wires; the values are two or three orders higher than those commonly found in NbTi or Nb3Sn wires. Considering the high porosity of the MgB2 filaments, cold high-pressure densification has been applied on the two MgB2 wires to investigate its impact on intrawire resistance and AC loss. The intrawire resistance is measured with a direct four-probe voltage-current method at various temperatures. The AC loss is measured by vibrating sample magnetometer measurements at 4.2 K. In addition to the intrawire resistance measurements, the critical current of MgB2 wires before and after densification is measured with a U-shaped bending spring at 4.2 K as function of axial strain. The critical current in densified MgB2 wires is found to be higher than that in the same wire without densification; it is also less sensitive to the applied axial strain.