SUPERCONDUCTING COMPOSITE WIRE

A submicron-particle ductile superconductor and method of fabricating the same wherein the submicron particles (e.g., 300 Angstroms) of a superconductor (e.g., NbC) are encapsulated in a metal tube (e.g., copper) and then fabricated down to fine wire in the absence of sintering of reaction annealing. Because of the fluid-like properties of the unsintered submicron-particle powdered core, the composite fabricated wire retains ductility and resistance to fracture while exhibiting superconducting properties approaching those of the bulk material in the core. Multifilamentary composites are obtained by bundling and fabricating the bundle down in a required number of steps.