The influence of weak texture on the critical currents in polycrystalline MgB₂

The current transport in polycrystalline MgB$_2$ is strongly influenced by the intrinsic anisotropy of this superconductor. Untextured bulks and wires are macroscopically isotropic, but the grains retain their anisotropic properties and the field dependence of the critical currents is much stronger than in isotropic superconductors. Weakly or partially textured tapes are macroscopically anisotropic, but the anisotropy of the zero resistivity (or irreversibility) field is smaller than the intrinsic upper critical field anisotropy, $\gamma$. The \Jc-anisotropy is field and temperature dependent and can be much larger than $\gamma$. The most suitable parameter for the quantification of the macroscopic anisotropy is, therefore, the anisotropy of the zero resistivity field. It is difficult to distinguish between a higher degree of texture at a lower intrinsic anisotropy and a weaker texture at higher anisotropy and hardly possible based on the field dependence of the critical current anisotropy alone. The knowledge of the upper critical field is crucial and angular resolved measurements of either the critical currents or, better, the resistive in-field transitions are favorable for this purpose.