UC Davis

Spark Plasma Sintering is one of the most effective tools in modern sintering history. Since the discovery of superconductivity in MgB2, there has been great interest in this atmospheric pressure-based material. In this paper, the effect of sintering temperature on superconducting and microstructural properties of MgB2 material has been studied. Four sintering temperatures between 900 to 12000C were tested for their Critical Temperature (TC). 10000C sample was found to have the highest diamagnetism and TC was found to saturate at 38K in 1100 and 12000C samples. Defect states and long-range order was found to be a major factor in superconducting properties of the material. The effect of 3% Rare Earth (RE) dopants Lanthanum and Yttrium on superconducting and crystal properties was also studied. Formation of secondary phases and an increase in TC of MgB2 by 0.1K with Y doping were reported. Also, a Support Vector Regression model was developed and tested for finding suitable dopants for the material by predicting TC values. The mean error in the test data set and variable temperature followed by Yttrium and Lanthanum doping was found to be +-1.26K and +-0.25K, respectively.