cw laser annealing of Nb3Al and Nb3Si

Abstract

Cw laser annealing has been applied to synthesize the metastable A15 superconductors, Nb₃Al and Nb₃Si. Qualitative agreement with the equilibrium phase diagrams have been obtained for the Nb‐Al system. Laser annealing permits the high‐temperature A15 phase to be fast quenched to room temperature without decomposition. Subsequent use of multiple low‐temperature laser scans raises the superconducting transition temperature, probably by improving the atomic order. For the Nb‐Si system, a single‐phase nonstoichiometric A15 structure is formed from the amorphous phase upon laser annealing.