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Superconductivity

1) Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by Kamerlingh Onnes, who found that the electrical resistance of mercury dropped to zero at 4.2K. 2) In 1933, Meissner and Ochsenfeld discovered the Meissner effect, where magnetic fields are expelled from the interior of superconductors when they transition into the superconducting state. 3) In 1950, isotopic substitutions provided evidence that superconductivity involves electron-phonon interactions.

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55 views25 pages

Superconductivity

1) Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by Kamerlingh Onnes, who found that the electrical resistance of mercury dropped to zero at 4.2K. 2) In 1933, Meissner and Ochsenfeld discovered the Meissner effect, where magnetic fields are expelled from the interior of superconductors when they transition into the superconducting state. 3) In 1950, isotopic substitutions provided evidence that superconductivity involves electron-phonon interactions.

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Superconductivity

Modern and Computational


Physics (22AS015)
1911: discovery of superconductivity

Discovered by Kamerlingh Onnes


in 1911 during first low
temperature measurements to
liquefy helium
Whilst measuring the resistivity of
“pure” Hg he noticed that the
electrical resistance dropped to zero
at
In 4.2K
1912 he found that the resistive
state is restored in a magnetic field or
at high transport currents
191
Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015) 3
Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)
1933: Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect

Ideal conductor! Ideal diamagnetic!

Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)


The Meissner (and Ochsenfeld) Effect

http://www.physics.ubc.ca/~outreach/phys420/p420_96/bruce/ybco.
superconductors push out magnetic fields

T > Tc T < Tc - and keep them out


with constantly- flowing
resistance-less currents

this ‘diamagnetic’ property is more fundamental than zero resistance

Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)


Meissner effect

The essence of the Meissner effect is that the superconductor ALWAYS


EXPELS THE MAGNETIC FIELD (ideal diamagnet).
Modern and Computational Physics (PH121)---
Perfect Diamagnetism and Zero resistivity are two independent
properties of a superconductor
Persistent Current
Is the resistivity of a superconductor really zero or just very small?

A super-current can be induced in a ring.


The decay of the current is given by the relaxation time (10-14 s for a
normal metal).
For a superconductor it should be infinite. Experiments suggest that
it is not less than 100.000 years.
Modern and Computational Physics (PH121)---Dr. Nidhi Bansal Garg
Critical current (I c).

The maximum value of current flowing through the superconductor at which


superconductivity is destroyed is called critical current (Ic).
If a wire of radius r of a magnetic field carries a current Ic , there is a surface
magnetic field associated with the current.
If HI exceeds Hc , the material will go normal. In addition, if a transverse magnetic
field H is applied to the wire, the condition for the transition to the normal state at
the surface is that the sum of the applied field and field due to the current should
be equal to the critical field
1950: Isotopic effect
TYPE-I SUPERCONDUCTORS
(These are superconductors which exhibit Complete Meissner effect.)

Cd = 0.56 K
Ga = 1.083 K
Zr = 0.546 K

❑ There are 30 pure metals which exhibit zero resistivity at low temperature.

❑ They are called Type I superconductors (Soft Superconductors).

❑ The superconductivity exists only below their critical temperature and below a critical

magnetic field strength.


TYPE-II SUPERCONDUCTORS
(These are superconductors which do not exhibit Meissner effect strictly)

1. Starting in 1930 with lead-bismuth alloys, were found which exhibited


superconductivity; they are called Type II superconductors (Hard Superconductors).

2. They were found to have much higher critical fields and therefore could carry much
higher current densities while remaining in the superconducting state.

Modern and Computational Physics (PH121)


1935: Brothers London theory

Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)


Basic assumptions
i) A superconductor is supposed of two distinct types of electrons and
super electrons.
ii) The normal electron behaves in a usual manner. However the super
electrons behave in much different way, such as they experience no
scattering, have zero entropy
n = n s + nn
ns and nn respectively are the densities of normal electrons and superelectrons
(1
)
(2
Differentiating equation (2) and using in equation (1) we get, )
(3
)

Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)


J=σE
Which shows that no current is possible without Electric Field.
Considering Maxwell’s 3 rd equation
Taking curl on both side of equation( 3)

(4
)

We know that, (5
)
Using 5 in 4 we get,

Or

Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)


Explanation of flux penetration

using London second equation, we get

Taking curl both sides, we get

Using standard identity , we get

The one dimension form of above equation

The solution of one dimension equation

Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)


Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)---
Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)--
Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)---
Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)---
Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)---
Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)---
Possible High Tc
superconductivity in
the Ba – La – Cu – O
system
cm)

35
Ω
resistivity (

K Their sample at first became


more resistive as it cooled!

At 35 K, when the sample was


5000 x more resistive than copper,
the resistance began to fall …
10
K
Only by 10 K had the
resistance fallen to (possibly)
zero !
Temperature ( K )
Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)
Superconductivity in alloys

Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)


References

• B01: Engineering physics by H.


K. Malik and A. K. Singh,
McGraw Hill Education.
• B02: Engineering Physics by
Chitkara Publication 2nd
Edition.

Modern and Computational Physics (22AS015)

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