We present a unified interpretation of the relationships between superconducting critical temperature and A15 phase stability for the series Nb3X, where X = Sn, Al, Ga, Ge, or Si. This interpretation is based on the experimentally supported premise that the highest T cfor each member of this series is obtained in the ordered 3:1 stoichiometric A15 phase, and also that T cincreases along the series as the X-atom size decreases. The instability problem arises from the fact that as the X-atom size decreases, the ordered stoichiometric A15 Nb3X phase becomes less stable and therefore increasingly difficult to prepare.
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Supported in part by AFOSR Contract No. F44620-74-C-0042.
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Ashkin, M., Gavaler, J.R. Stability of Nb-Based, High-T c, A15 compounds. J Low Temp Phys 31, 285–293 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00116241
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00116241