Superconducting Microwave Cavity Made of Bulk MgB2

TL;DR

This paper reports the development and characterization of a microwave resonant cavity made from bulk MgB2 superconductor, demonstrating high quality factors up to 30 K, indicating potential for advanced microwave applications.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel MgB2 microwave cavity fabricated via reactive liquid Mg infiltration, with detailed performance measurements and discussion of potential improvements.

Findings

Quality factor of 2.2x10^5 at 4.2 K

High quality factor maintained up to 30 K

Potential for improved microwave cavity performance

Abstract

We report the successful manufacture and characterization of a microwave resonant cylindrical cavity made of bulk MgB2 superconductor (Tc = 38.5 K), which has been produced by the Reactive Liquid Mg Infiltration technique. The quality factor of the cavity for the TE011 mode, resonating at 9.79 GHz, has been measured as a function of the temperature. At T = 4.2 K, the unloaded quality factor is 2.2x10^5; it remains of the order of 10^5 up to T ~ 30 K. We discuss the potential performance improvements of microwave cavities built from bulk MgB2 materials produced by reactive liquid Mg infiltration.