Abstract
An investigation of possible surface effects on the formation of the superconducting compounds Nb3Sn and Nb3Ge is reported. Low-energy electron diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy were used to determine the symmetries and approximate compositions of surface compounds formed by reactions of fractional monolayers of Sn and Ge with the Nb[100] and Nb[110] surfaces. A number of ordered surface structures were observed for each of these elements when reacted with Nb, but epitaxial growth of Nb3Sn or Nb3Ge was not observed. With deposition of sufficient Sn, a disordered growth of Nb3Sn crystallites was obtained at temperatures up to 940 °C; however, deposits of Ge greater than about one atomic layer diffused into the Nb interior when heated, and no bulk Nb-Ge compounds were observed.
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