In order to promote the use of the compound for space activities, Ti was tested as a sheath material. Titanium was non-magnetic and its alloys were almost half the weight of steel, but with yield stresses up to 3 times higher. The Ti-sheathed MgB2 was fabricated by using the powder-in-tube process. These wires exhibited similar results to those sheathed with Fe. At 4K the critical current density JC was well above 7 x 105 A cm-2. The interface between the superconducting intermetallic compound and the lightweight sheath did not show any evidence of reaction and diffusion up to 900C . An analysis was carried out using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with an energy dispersive spectrometer, and electron microprobe analysis.

High Critical Current of Ti-Sheathed MgB2 Wires for AC and Weight-Critical Applications. M.Alessandrini, H.Fang, M.Hanna, P.Putman, Y.X.Zhou, K.Salama: Superconductor Science and Technology, 2006, 19, 129-32