Niobium-germanium

Niobium-germanium (Nb3Ge) is a metallic chemical compound of niobium (Nb) and germanium (Ge). It has A15 phase structure.

It is a superconductor with a critical temperature of 23.2 kelvin (K).

Spluttered films have been reported to have an upper critical field of 37 teslas at 4.2 K.[1]

Contents

History

Nb3Ge was discovered to be a superconductor in 1971 [2] and for 15 years (until the discovery in 1986 of the cuprate superconductors) it held the record as having the highest critical temperature.[3]

It has not been as widely used for superconductive applications as niobium-tin or niobium-titanium.

Related alloys

Niobium-germanium-aluminium has an upper critical field of about 10 Tesla.[4]

References

  1. ^ Oya, Gin-ichiro; E. J. Saur (1979). "Preparation of Nb3Ge films by chemical transport reaction and their critical properties". Journal of Low Temperature Physics 34 (5–6): 569–583. Bibcode 1979JLTP...34..569O. doi:10.1007/BF00114941. http://www.springerlink.com/content/vxl533x085p02128/fulltext.pdf?page=1. 
  2. ^ "The History of Superconductors". University of Aberdeen. 1999-12-13. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/physics/case/99/history.html. Retrieved 2008-09-06. 
  3. ^ "Superconducting devices". TheFreeDictionary. http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Superconducting+devices. Retrieved 2008-09-06. 
  4. ^ Sinha, P. K. (1987). Electromagnetic Suspension: Dynamics & Control. The Institution of Engineering and Technology. pp. 290. ISBN 9780863410635. http://books.google.com/?id=DRdtKenSW1UC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=niobium-germanium+superconductor. 

External links