High transport critical current densities in textured Fe-sheathed Sr1-xKxFe2As2+Sn superconducting tapes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates high transport critical current densities in textured Fe-sheathed Sr1-xKxFe2As2+Sn superconducting tapes, showing potential for practical applications due to improved grain alignment and intergrain coupling.

Contribution

It reports the first achievement of high critical current densities in Fe-based superconducting tapes with grain texture and Sn addition, surpassing previous records.

Findings

Critical current density of 2.5x10^4 A/cm^2 at 4.2 K in self-field

Highest reported Jc for Fe-based superconducting wires and tapes

Enhanced grain texture and intergrain coupling due to Sn addition

Abstract

We report the realization of grain alignment in Sn-added Sr1-xKxFe2As2 superconducting tapes prepared by ex-situ powder-in-tube method. At 4.2 K, high transport critical current densities Jc of 2.5x10^4 A/cm^2 (Ic = 180 A) in self-field and 3.5x10^3 A/cm^2 (Ic = 25.5 A) in 10 T have been measured. These values are the highest ever reported so far for Fe-based superconducting wires and tapes. We believe the superior Jc in our tape samples are due to well textured grains and strengthened intergrain coupling achieved by Sn addition. Our results demonstrated an encouraging prospect for application of iron based superconductors.