EFFECT OF SINTERING TIME AND TEMPERATURE ON SUPERCONDUCTING PROPERTIES OF CHEVREL-PHASE WIRES MADE WITH MICRON-SIZED POWDER

A systematic study of inductively measured T-c, transport critical cur rent density (J(c)) and the field (B-max) at which pinning force densi ty is maximum has been made on newly developed Chevrel phase supercond ucting (CPS) wires. At fixed sintering temperatures, B-max(4.2 K) incr eases monotonically to values greater than or equal to 0.16 B-c2 with increasing sintering times (t(s)). Simultaneously, the deterioration o f J(c)(4.2 K, 7.5 T) values and the inductive transition show a degrad ation of the CPS core. The emerging picture lends support to the evolu tion of well connected paths in a granular CPS core, however, limited by degradation due to Pb/ S losses.