Fabrication of V-based Laves phase compound multifilamentary wires by applying a rapidly-heating/quenching process to PIT precursors and using a V tube

We fabricated V-based Laves phase compound such as V/sub 2/(Hf,Zr) multifilamentary wire by applying a rapidly-heating/quenching (RHQ) process. Pure Hf and Zr metal powders were mixed and it put in high pure V tube composed with tantalum (Ta), and it was drawn in order to make wire (powder-in-tube (PIT) method). The wires were heat-treated by RHQ process, and some were annealed additionally in vacuum. Since Ta has a higher melting point than V, it is expected that the alloying prevents from breakage of the precursor wire during RHQ treatment because the maximum temperature exceeds 2500 K. SEM observation confirmed that the thick reaction layer within about 10 microns was formed on the boundary of the powder mixture filament and the V matrix after the RHQ. T/sub c/ values of the as-quenched samples increased with increasing maximum temperature during RHQ process, and the maximum mid point T/sub c/ value was about 8.0 K. The transport J/sub c/ properties under magnetic fields were also investigated.