Superconductivity in Nb3Ge

The recent report that Nb3Ge films can be prepared with superconducting transition temperatures of over 22K has immediately made Nb3Ge a very important potential candidate for a variety of large scale applications, such as for example, power transmission lines, or large high field magnets. Short sample data on sputtered films show that Nb3Ge possesses an extremely attractive combination of high field properties, competitive with any other presently known material at all temperatures from zero to Tc. The development of a process capable of being used to fabricate Nb3Ge in a useful configuration (i.e., long length of wire or tape) is now being investigated. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a demonstrated commercial process, which may be applicable for this purpose. Our initial CVD studies have yielded films with Tc´s over 21.5K.