Enhancement of Jc by Hf -Doping in the Superconductor MgB2: A Hyperfine Interaction Study

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that Hf doping in MgB2 significantly enhances the critical current density and upper critical field without reducing Tc, with hyperfine interaction analysis revealing phase formation and substitution effects.

Contribution

It introduces Hf doping as an effective method to improve MgB2 superconductors and provides hyperfine interaction insights into phase formation and substitution mechanisms.

Findings

Hf doping increases Jc and Hc2 in MgB2.

Hf partially substitutes Mg in the lattice.

Formation of HfB and HfB2 phases observed.

Abstract

Measurements of the critical current density (Jc) by magnetization and the upper critical field (Hc2) by magnetoresistance have been performed for hafnium-doped MgB2. There has been a remarkable enhancement of Jc as compared to that by ion irradiation without any appreciable decrease in Tc, which is beneficial from the point of view of applications. The irreversibility line extracted from Jc shows an upward shift. In addition, there has been an increase in the upper critical field which indicates that Hf partially substitutes for Mg. Hyperfine interaction parameters obtained from time differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) measurements revealed the formation of HfB and HfB2 phases along with the substitution of Hf. A possible explanation is given for the role of these species in the enhancement of Jc in MgB2 superconductor.