Abstract
The superconducting compound Nb3Sn was produced by the reduction of the oxides or hydroxides of niobium and tin. The procedure consists of the following three steps; (i) preparation of the mixed oxides or hydroxides, (ii) direct alloy reduction, and (iii) homogenizing heat treatment of the reduced metal powders. For mixing the two oxides, two methods were tried: the simultaneous precipitation from the aqueous solution and the solidification of the molten oxides. These mixed oxides were reduced by ca!ciunn or magnesium vapour in the temperature range 973 to 1373 K. After calcium or magnesium oxide was removed by leaching the fine compound powder had an A-15 type crystal structure, but showed a relatively low superconducting critical temperature (T c). The isothermal annealing improvedT c to 18.0 K.
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