Superconducting properties and microstructure of electron beam irradiated MgB₂ superconductors

The effect of electron beam (EB) irradiation on superconducting properties and microstructures of MgB₂ bulk superconductors were investigated. At E-beam doses of 1×10¹⁶ e/cm² and 1×10¹⁷ e/cm², the effect of irradiation on a superconducting transition temperature (T_c) of MgB₂ was weak. As a dose increases to 5×10¹⁷ e/cm², T_c decreases by 0.5 K. The critical current density (J_c) measured at 4.2 K and 20 K, and 0 T - 5 T increases slightly as exposure time increases. X-ray diffraction for the irradiation surface of MgB₂ shows that the diffraction intensity of (hkl) peaks decreases proportionally as the exposure time increases. This indicates that the crystallinity of MgB₂ was degraded by irradiation. TEM investigation for the irradiated sample showed distorted lattice structure, which is consistent with the XRD results. The J_c increase and T_c reduction of MgB₂ by irradiation are believed to be caused by the lattice distortion.