Patent attributes
A method in which a metal powder is produced by ejecting a thermally decomposable metal compound powder into a reaction vessel through a nozzle together with a carrier gas under the condition V/S>600, where V is the flow rate of the carrier gas per unit time (liter/min), and S is the cross-sectional area of the nozzle opening part (cm2), and heating this metal powder at a temperature which is higher than the decomposition temperature of the metal compound powder and not lower than (Tm−200)° C., where Tm is the melting point of the metal, in a state where the metal compound powder is dispersed in the gas phase at a concentration of 10 g/liter or less. The method provides a fine, spherical, highly-crystallized metal powder which has a high purity, high density, high dispersibility and extremely uniform particle size, at low cost and using a simple process.