Experimental study of the AC magnetization loss in MgB2 superconducting wires at different temperatures

The temperature and external AC magnetic field dependence of AC magnetization losses of MgB2 wires were studied. Temperature was varied from 18 K to 40 K and external magnetic field of frequencies 72 Hz and 144 Hz from 8 mT to 70 mT with orientation perpendicular to the wire axis. To clarify the influence of the wire construction on AC loss, single and six filament untwisted samples of length ∼50 mm were examined. For this purpose unique experimental apparatus created by the combination of original calibration-free measuring system designed for ac magnetization loss measurement and non-magnetic vacuum vessel with two-stage cryocooler for sample cooling was used. It was found, that for monofilament sample hysteretic AC losses was dominated in comparison to untwisted six-filaments sample, where coupling losses confirmed by frequency dependence were dominated.

► The temperature dependence of AC magnetization losses of MgB2 wires were studied.
► Temperature was varied from 18 K to 40 K.
► The dependence of MgB2 AC magnetization losses on external AC magnetic field.
► External magnetic field was changed from 8 mT to 70 mT.
► Loss of mono and six-filamentary samples was compared.