Critical currents of superconducting PbMo6s8 tapes

An electro-plating and diffusion method has been developed for the production of superconducting ternary lead molybdenum sulfide (PbMo6S8) tapes. These tapes were prepared by plating a Mo tape with lead, and with subsequent heat treatment in sulfur (S) vapour from molybdenum sulfide (Mos2). Samples were examined with SEM, XMA, and X-ray diffraction techniques. Optimal reaction-temperature and Pb-plating conditions gave a critical temperature of about 14 K, and a resistive transition width of less than 1 K. The value of Jc was relatively large. and reached 1.8 x 104 A/cm2 in a 14 T magnetic field at 4.2 K. The relatively large values of Jc in strong magnetic field suggest the need for a more detailed analysis of the preparation conditions and the pinning mechanism in this compound.