Preparation of single crystal wires of metals of high melting point

Abstract

Various methods of preparing single crystal wires of metals have been devised (see, e. g. Schmid and Boas 1935; Andrade and Roscoe 1937), but they all demand furnaces which reach the melting point, the transformation point, or the recrystallization temperature of the metal. In the case of metals where the temperature in question is very high the general methods call, then, for high temperature furnaces which are costly and often troublesome to control. The method to be described eliminates the need of such a furnace, and would seem to have a wide application. The wire is maintained at a high temperature by a current passing through it, and a subsidiary temperature gradient is applied.