Method of manufacturing superconductor wire

1. A method of manufacturing Nb 3 Sn superconductor wire, the method comprising the steps of:

producing a high-tin intermetallic powder compound;

preparing a catalyst powder compound;

mixing the high-tin intermetallic powder compound with the catalyst powder compound to produce an intermetallic powder mixture;

introducing the intermetallic powder mixture into a tube to form a mono-element, the tube including copper cladding and the tube comprising one of niobium or a niobium alloy;

cold-drawing the mono-element to a first predetermined diameter;

assembling a plurality of mono-elements into a multi-element billet;

hot-extruding the assembled multi-element billet to produce at least one multifilament billet containing Nb 3 Sn; and

forming a wire having a second predetermined diameter by cold-drawing the at least one multifilament billet through a plurality of dies;

wherein the high-tin intermetallic compound comprises MnSn 2 .

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of producing the high-tin intermetallic MnSn 2 compound comprises the steps of:

introducing a first predetermined amount of elemental manganese into a mixer or shaker;

introducing a second predetermined amount of elemental tin into the mixer or shaker;

mixing the elemental manganese with the elemental tin to produce a combination of manganese and tin;

subjecting the combination of manganese and tin to a heat treatment such that MnSn 2 is produced;

mechanically grinding the produced MnSn 2 into a first plurality of particles having a particle size not exceeding a first predetermined maximum size; and

jet milling the first plurality of particles into a second plurality of particles having a particle size not exceeding a second predetermined maximum size.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first predetermined amount of elemental manganese is approximately equal to 19% by weight of the combination of manganese and tin, and the second predetermined amount of elemental tin is approximately equal to 81% by weight of the combination of manganese and tin.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first predetermined amount of elemental manganese comprises a first plurality of manganese particles, each of the first plurality of manganese particles having a size less than or equal to 44 microns, and wherein the second predetermined amount of elemental tin comprises a second plurality of tin particles, each of the second plurality of tin particles having a size less than or equal to 44 microns.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of mixing comprises mixing the manganese with the tin under an argon atmosphere.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of subjecting the combination of manganese and tin to a heat treatment comprises subjecting the combination of manganese and tin to a temperature of approximately 500° C. for approximately 72 hours.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first predetermined maximum size is equal to 150 microns.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second predetermined maximum size is equal to 5 microns.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst powder compound comprises CuTiSn.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of mixing the high-tin intermetallic powder compound with the catalyst powder compound to produce an intermetallic powder mixture further comprises mixing a first amount of the high-tin intermetallic powder compound with a second amount of the catalyst powder compound to produce an intermetallic powder mixture, wherein the first and second amounts are selected in accordance with a predetermined ratio.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined ratio is approximately equal to 1:1.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the tube comprises a niobium alloy, the niobium alloy is selected from the group consisting of the compositions of Nb-1% Zr, Nb-1% Zr-x % Gd, Nb-1% Zr-x % Y, and Nb-1% Zr-x % Nd.