Manufacture of niobium-aluminum superconducting material
AssigneeBell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated
InventorsWilliam L. Feldmann, John M. Rowell, Paul H. Schmidt
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Abstract
Niobium-aluminum superconducting wire and other shaped articles are made by heating a precursor body which comprises niobium, an auxiliary element which is more easily oxidizable than aluminum, and aluminum oxide, the aluminum oxide being supported by a surface or a matrix comprising niobium and the auxiliary element. Among suitable auxiliary elements are zirconium, hafnium, scandium, yttrium, and the nonmagnetic rare earths.
Claims13
Method for making a Nb.sub.3 Al superconducting shaped article which is superconducting at a temperature which is greater than or equal to 10 degrees Kelvin,
- said method comprising heating a precursor body consisting essentially of a supporting component and a supported component,
- said supporting component comprising a first element which is niobium and at least one additional element whose chemical affinity for oxygen is greater than the chemical affinity between aluminum an oxygen,
- said supported component comprising aluminum oxide, and
- heating being at a temperature in the range of from 800 to 1600 degrees Celsius and for a time which is sufficient to reduce the aluminum oxide and to form an oxide of at least a portion of said at least one additional element, whereby at least a layer consisting essentially of superconducting niobium-aluminum is formed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.