Review of superconducting properties of MgB2

This review paper illustrates the main normal and superconducting state properties of magnesium diboride, a material known since early 1950's, but recently discovered to be superconductive at a remarkably high critical temperature Tc=40K for a binary compound. What makes MgB2 so special? Its high Tc, simple crystal structure, large coherence lengths, high critical current densities and fields, transparency of grain boundaries to current promises that MgB2 will be a good material for both large scale applications and electronic devices. During the last seven month, MgB2 has been fabricated in various forms, bulk, single crystals, thin films, tapes and wires. The largest critical current densities >10MA/cm and critical fields 40T are achieved for thin films. The anisotropy ratio inferred from upper critical field measurements is still to be resolved, a wide range of values being reported, γ = 1.2 ÷ 9. Also there is no consensus about the existence of a single anisotropic or double energy gap. One central issue is whether or not MgB2 represents a new class of superconductors, being the tip of an iceberg who awaits to be discovered. Up to date MgB2 holds the record of the highest Tc among simple binary compounds. However, the discovery of superconductivity in MgB2 revived the interest in non-oxides and initiated a search for superconductivity in related materials, several compounds being already announced to become superconductive: TaB2, BeB2.75, C-S composites, and the elemental B under pressure. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version; see www.iop.org)