Sonochemical Modification of the Superconducting Properties of MgB2

Ultrasonic irradiation of magnesium diboride slurries in decalin produces material with significant inter-grain fusion. Sonication in the presence of Fe(CO)5 produces magnetic Fe2O3 nanoparticles embedded in the MgB2 bulk. The resulting superconductor-ferromagnet composite exhibits considerable enhancement of the magnetic hysteresis, which implies an increase of vortex pinning strength due to embedded magnetic nanoparticles

Effects of High Intensity Ultrasound on BSCCO-2212 Superconductor

Slurries of powdered Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x superconductor in low volatility alkanes were treated with intense ultrasound. Significant enhancements of magnetic irreversibility as well as transport critical current are reported. The effects are dependent on the concentration of the slurry and are optimal for 1.5% wt. slurry loading. Electron microscopy shows that ultrasonic treatment leads to a change in grain morphology and intergrain welding. The observed enhancement of superconducting properties is consistent with the limitations in critical currents in BSCCO superconductor being due to intergrain coupling rather than intragrain pinning strength.Comment: 3 page

Plasma formation and temperature measurement during single-bubble cavitation

Single-bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) results from the extreme temperatures and pressures achieved during bubble compression; calculations have predicted the existence of a hot, optically opaque plasma core with consequent bremsstrahlung radiation. Recent controversial reports claim the observation of neutrons from deuterium–deuterium fusion during acoustic cavitation. However, there has been previously no strong experimental evidence for the existence of a plasma during single- or multi-bubble sonoluminescence. SBSL typically produces featureless emission spectra that reveal little about the intra-cavity physical conditions or chemical processes. Here we report observations of atomic (Ar) emission and extensive molecular (SO) and ionic (O2 cation) progressions in SBSL spectra from concentrated aqueous H2SO4 solutions. Both the Ar and SO emission permit spectroscopic temperature determinations, as accomplished for multi-bubble sonoluminescence with other emitters. The emissive excited states observed from both Ar+ and O2 cation are inconsistent with any thermal process. The Ar excited states involved are extremely high in energy (>13 eV) and cannot be thermally populated at the measured Ar emission temperatures (4,000–15,000 K); the ionization energy of O2 is more than twice its bond dissociation energy, so O2 likewise cannot be thermally produced. We therefore conclude that these emitting species must originate from collisions with high-energy electrons, ions or particles from a hot plasma core