Influence of Mg and B stoichiometry on the formation behavior of MgB ₂ phase

Bulk samples with the stoichiometry of Mg:B=1:2 and 1:4 were prepared by solid state reaction method. The microstructure and constituent of the samples were investigated by using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the x-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD results showed that the MgB₂ phase was first formed in all the samples with different stoichiometry of Mg and B, which indicated that the MgB₂ was the most thermodynamically stable phase in the Mg-B binary system. For the samples of Mg:B=l:2, the MgB₂ single phase was formed very well when these samples were sintered at 650°C-700°C. For the samples with later added Mg reaching to the stoichiometry of Mg:B=1:2, a longer reaction time or higher reaction temperature was required for the formation of the MgB2 single phase. The SEM results showed that the samples with later added Mg had dense microstructures, suggesting that the later addition of Mg could reduce the porosity of the sample. A small increase of the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, in the Mg addition sample resulted from the dense microstructures.