Influence of the upper critical-field anisotropy on the transport properties of polycrystalline MgB2

The intrinsic properties of MgB2 form the basis for all applications of this superconductor. We wish to emphasize that the application range of polycrystalline MgB2 is limited by the upper critical field Hc2 and its anisotropy. In wires or tapes, the MgB2 grains are randomly oriented or only slightly textured and the anisotropy of the upper critical field leads to different transport properties in different grains, if a magnetic field is applied and the current transport becomes percolative. The irreversibility line is caused by the disappearance of a continuous superconducting current path and not by depinning as in high-temperature superconductors. Based on a percolation model, we demonstrate how the changes of the upper critical field and its anisotropy and how the changes of flux pinning will influence the critical currents of a wire or a tape. These predictions are compared to results of neutron irradiation experiments, where these parameters were changed systematically.