Effect of laser irradiation on superconducting properties of bulk MgB2 sintered at different temperatures

The surfaces of MgB2 bulk samples produced by a pellet/closed tube method at two different sintering temperatures of 650 and 850 °C, after hot pressing at 200 °C, were irradiated with the same irradiation dose by using an Nd:YVO4 laser in order to study the possible potentiality of laser irradiation to improve pinning performances and critical current density of MgB2 superconductor. The measurements showed that the magnetic field dependence of the critical current density values of irradiated sample sintered at 650 °C slightly increased with a narrowing in superconducting transition region as compared to the reference sample sintered at same temperature. However, irradiated sample sintered at 850 °C showed a decrease in pinning performance and similar critical temperature values as compared to the corresponding reference sample. From these results it can be said that the same laser irradiation dose affects superconducting properties of bulk MgB2 in different ways depending on sintering temperature of the superconductor.