Synthesis Of Metastable Superconductors By High Dynamic Pressure

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Abstract
High dynamic pressure is used to synthesize metastable superconducting materials and to process superconductors into practical form. Specimens are subjected to shock pressures in the range 0.1-1 Mbar, temperatures up to several 1000 K and quenches at rates up to 1012 bar/s and 109 K/s. Shock waves are generated by impact of projectiles accelerated up to 3.5 km/s by the LLNL two-stage light-gas gun. Recovered specimens are characterized for superconductivity and structural properties. The gas gun, specimen recovery fixture, and phenomenology of the technique are described. Results are reviewed and include a quenched solid-solid phase transition (A15 Nb3Si); amorphous, fine-grained, and multiphase materials produced by shock-induced melting of powders and subsequent rapid solidification; and the shock-compaction in a metal matrix of thin powder layers of high-Tc oxides mixed with metal. The latter is a potential method for fabricating superconducting wire, which could be scaled to long lengths using explosives.© (1988) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

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