High performance new MgB2 superconducting hollow wires

MgB2 hollow wires have been produced with a new technique which uses a conventional wire manufacturing process but is applied to composite billets containing the elemental B and Mg precursors in an appropriate shape. The technique has been applied to the manufacture of both monofilamentary and multifilamentary wires of several tens of metres in length. The superconducting transport properties of the MgB2 hollow wires have been measured in a magnetic field and in the temperature range from 4.2 to 30 K. Promising results are obtained, which indicate the possibility of the application of these wires as superconductors in the temperature range of 15-30 K and at medium-high values of magnetic field.