The current carrying properties of superconducting materials are heavily dependent upon their microstructure. Polished, etched and fractured surfaces of bulk and composite materials contain a great deal of information about intergranular connectivity, interracial structure, grain size, fracture behavior and microchemistry. We intend to study the cross-sectional surfaces of PbMo6S8, Nb3Sn, and Nb-Ti superconductors at very high magnification in the IMR high-resolution SEM. Previous studies using the conventional SEM's at the materials science facility have been inconclusive because of the resolution limits of these machines. Below lOOnm, the scale which is typically the most interesting, the conventional SEM does not provide adequate resolution.
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