An object of the present invention is to provide nitrogen-containing
metallic powder at high productivity, which powder contains a metal such
as niobium or tantalum containing nitrogen uniformly, and enables
production of an anode electrode that has high specific capacitance and
low leakage current and that exhibits excellent reliability for a
prolonged period of time. There is provided nitrogen-containing metallic
powder which is a solid solution containing 50 20,000 ppm nitrogen, in
which the metal that constitutes the metallic powder is niobium or
tantalum. The nitrogen-containing metallic powder is produced through the
process in which while a metallic compound is reduced with a reducing
agent, a nitrogen-containing gas is introduced into a reaction system to
thereby form metal, and nitrogen is simultaneously incorporated into
metal. A porous sintered body comprising the nitrogen-containing metallic
powder and a solid electrolytic capacitor comprising the powder have low
leakage current and exhibit excellent reliability for a prolonged period
of time.