Highly c-axis orientated superconducting core and large critical current density in Ba(0.6)Na(0.4)Fe(2)As(2) powder-in-tube tape

Improvement of the critical current density (J(c)) of superconducting wires/tapes is one of the key issues in the field of superconductivity applications. Here we report the fabrication of a silver-sheathed Ba(1−x)Na(x)Fe(2)As(2) (BaNa-122) superconducting tape by using a powder-in-tube technique and its superconducting properties, in particular transport J(c), as well as the tape-core texture. The optimally-doped BaNa-122 tape with Na concentration x = 0.4 exhibits the superconducting critical temperature (T(c)) of 33.7 K and high transport J(c) of 4 × 10(4) A/cm(2) at 4.2 K in a magnetic field of 4 T. Patterns of x-ray diffraction for the superconducting core show that the degree of c-axis orientation is significantly enhanced through the tape fabrication process. The tendency of c-axis orientation is advantageous for achieving higher J(c), suggesting the high potential of BaNa-122 for superconducting wire/tape applications.