Critical currents of superconducting PbMo6S8tapes

An electro-plating and diffusion method has been developed for the production of superconducting ternary lead molybdenum sulfide (PbMo
6
S
8
) tapes. These tapes were prepared by plating a Mo tape with lead, and with subsequent heat treatment in sulfur (S) vapour from molybdenum sulfide (MoS
2
). Samples were examined with SEM, XMA, and X-ray diffraction 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 J
c
was relatively large, and reached
1.8\times10^{4}
A/cm
²
in a 14 T magnetic field at 4.2 K. The relatively large values of J
c
in strong magnetic field suggest the need for a more detailed analysis of the preparation conditions and the pinning mechanism in this compound.