Superconductivity 

is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical

resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these
properties is a superconductor. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases
gradually as its temperature is lowered even down to near absolute zero, a superconductor has a
characteristic critical temperature below which the resistance drops abruptly to zero. An electric
current through a loop of superconducting wire can persist indefinitely with no power source.[1][2][3][4]
The superconductivity phenomenon was discovered in 1911 by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh
Onnes. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a phenomenon which can
only be explained by quantum mechanics. It is characterized by the Meissner effect, the complete ejection
of magnetic field lines from the interior of the superconductor during its transitions into the
superconducting state. The occurrence of the Meissner effect indicates that superconductivity cannot be
understood simply as the idealization of perfect conductivity in classical physics.
In 1986, it was discovered that some cuprate-perovskite ceramic materials have a critical temperature
above 90 K (−183 °C).[5] Such a high transition temperature is theoretically impossible for a conventional
superconductor, leading the materials to be termed high-temperature superconductors. The cheaply
available coolant liquid nitrogen boils at 77 K, and thus the existence of superconductivity at higher
temperatures than this facilitates many experiments and applications that are less practical at lower
temperatures.

Classification
There are many criteria by which superconductors are classified. The most common are:
Response to a magnetic field
A superconductor can be Type  I, meaning it has a single critical field, above which all superconductivity
is lost and below which the magnetic field is completely expelled from the superconductor; or Type  II,
meaning it has two critical fields, between which it allows partial penetration of the magnetic field
through isolated points.[6] These points are called vortices.[7] Furthermore, in multicomponent
superconductors it is possible to have a combination of the two behaviours. In that case the
superconductor is of Type-1.5.[8]
By theory of operation
It is conventional if it can be explained by the BCS theory or its derivatives, or unconventional,
otherwise.[9]
By critical temperature
A superconductor is generally considered high-temperature if it reaches a superconducting state above a
temperature of 30 K (−243.15 °C);[10] as in the initial discovery by Georg Bednorz and K. Alex Müller.
[5]
 It may also reference materials that transition to superconductivity when cooled using liquid nitrogen –
that is, at only Tc > 77 K, although this is generally used only to emphasize that liquid nitrogen coolant is
sufficient. Low temperature superconductors refer to materials with a critical temperature below 30 K.
One exception to this rule is the iron pnictide group of superconductors which display behaviour and
properties typical of high-temperature superconductors, yet some of the group have critical temperatures
below 30 K.
By material
Superconductor material classes include chemical elements (e.g. mercury or lead), alloys (such
as niobium–titanium, germanium–niobium, and niobium nitride), ceramics (YBCO and magnesium
diboride), superconducting pnictides (like fluorine-doped LaOFeAs) or organic
superconductors (fullerenes and carbon nanotubes; though perhaps these examples should be included
among the chemical elements, as they are composed entirely of carbon).

Aplicatii
Superconducting magnets are some of the most powerful electromagnets known. They are used
in MRI/NMR machines, mass spectrometers, the beam-steering magnets used in particle accelerators and
plasma confining magnets in some tokamaks. They can also be used for magnetic separation, where
weakly magnetic particles are extracted from a background of less or non-magnetic particles, as in
the pigment industries. They can also be used in large wind turbines to overcome the restrictions imposed
by high electrical currents, with an industrial grade 3.6 megawatt superconducting windmill generator
having been tested successfully in Denmark.[69]
In the 1950s and 1960s, superconductors were used to build experimental digital computers
using cryotron switches.[70] More recently, superconductors have been used to make digital circuits based
on rapid single flux quantum technology and RF and microwave filters for mobile phone base stations.
Superconductors are used to build Josephson junctions which are the building blocks
of SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices), the most sensitive magnetometers known.
SQUIDs are used in scanning SQUID microscopes and magnetoencephalography. Series of Josephson
devices are used to realize the SI volt. Depending on the particular mode of operation, a superconductor–
insulator–superconductor Josephson junction can be used as a photon detector or as a mixer. The large
resistance change at the transition from the normal- to the superconducting state is used to build
thermometers in cryogenic micro-calorimeter photon detectors. The same effect is used in
ultrasensitive bolometers made from superconducting materials.
Other early markets are arising where the relative efficiency, size and weight advantages of devices based
on high-temperature superconductivity outweigh the additional costs involved. For example, in wind
turbines the lower weight and volume of superconducting generators could lead to savings in construction
and tower costs, offsetting the higher costs for the generator and lowering the total levelized cost of
electricity (LCOE).[71]
Promising future applications include high-performance smart grid, electric power
transmission, transformers, power storage devices, electric motors (e.g. for vehicle propulsion, as
in vactrains or maglev trains), magnetic levitation devices, fault current limiters, enhancing spintronic
devices with superconducting materials,[72] and superconducting magnetic refrigeration. However,
superconductivity is sensitive to moving magnetic fields, so applications that use alternating current (e.g.
transformers) will be more difficult to develop than those that rely upon direct current. Compared to
traditional power lines, superconducting transmission lines are more efficient and require only a fraction
of the space, which would not only lead to a better environmental performance but could also improve
public acceptance for expansion of the electric grid.

technological applications of superconductivity

Some of the technological applications of superconductivity include:

 the production of sensitive magnetometers based on SQUIDs (superconducting quantum

interference devices)
 fast digital circuits (including those based on Josephson junctions and rapid single flux
quantum technology),
 powerful superconducting electromagnets used in maglev trains, magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) machines, magnetic
confinement fusion reactors (e.g. tokamaks), and the beam-steering and focusing magnets used
in particle accelerators
 low-loss power cables
 RF and microwave filters (e.g., for mobile phone base stations, as well as military ultra-
sensitive/selective receivers)
 fast fault current limiters
 high sensitivity particle detectors, including the transition edge sensor, the
superconducting bolometer, the superconducting tunnel junction detector, the kinetic inductance
detector, and the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector
 railgun and coilgun magnets
 electric motors and generators

Low-temperature superconductivity
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
The biggest application for superconductivity is in producing the large-volume, stable, and high-intensity
magnetic fields required for MRI and NMR. This represents a multi-billion-US$ market for companies
such as Oxford Instruments and Siemens. The magnets typically use low-temperature
superconductors (LTS) because high-temperature superconductors are not yet cheap enough to cost-
effectively deliver the high, stable, and large-volume fields required, notwithstanding the need to cool
LTS instruments to liquid helium temperatures. Superconductors are also used in high field scientific
magnets.
Particle accelerators and magnetic fusion devices
Particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider can include many high field electromagnets
requiring large quantities of LTS. To construct the LHC magnets required more than 28 percent of the
world's niobium-titanium wire production for five years, with large quantities of NbTi also used in the
magnets for the LHC's huge experiment detectors.[2]
A small number of magnetic fusion devices (mostly tokamaks) have used SC coils. The current
construction of ITER has required unprecedented amounts of LTS (e.g. 500 tonnes, causing a 7 fold
increase in the world's annual production capacity).[3]

High-temperature superconductivity (HTS)

The commercial applications so far for high temperature superconductors (HTS) have been limited.
HTS require only liquid nitrogen, not liquid helium, to cool to superconducting temperatures. However,
the problem with HTS technology is that the currently known high temperature superconductors are
brittle ceramics which are expensive to manufacture and not easily formed into wires or other useful
shapes.[4] Therefore, the applications for HTS have been where it has some other intrinsic advantage, e.g.
in

 low thermal loss current leads for LTS devices (low thermal conductivity),
 RF and microwave filters (low resistance to RF), and
 increasingly in specialist scientific magnets, particularly where size and electricity consumption
are critical (while HTS wire is much more expensive than LTS in these applications, this can be
offset by the relative cost and convenience of cooling); the ability to ramp field is desired (the higher
and wider range of HTS's operating temperature means faster changes in field can be managed); or
 cryogen free operation is desired (LTS generally requires liquid helium that is becoming more scarce
and expensive).
HTS-based systems
HTS has application in scientific and industrial magnets, including use in NMR and MRI systems.
Commercial systems are now available in each category.[5]
Also one intrinsic attribute of HTS is that it can withstand much higher magnetic fields than LTS, so HTS
at liquid helium temperatures are being explored for very high-field inserts inside LTS magnets.
Promising future industrial and commercial HTS applications include Induction
heaters, transformers, fault current limiters, power storage, motors and generators, fusion reactors
(see ITER) and magnetic levitation devices.
Early applications will be where the benefit of smaller size, lower weight or the ability to rapidly switch
current (fault current limiters) outweighs the added cost. Longer-term as conductor price falls HTS
systems should be competitive in a much wider range of applications on energy efficiency grounds alone.
(For a relatively technical and US-centric view of state of play of HTS technology in power systems and
the development status of Generation 2 conductor see Superconductivity for Electric Systems 2008 US
DOE Annual Peer Review.)
Electric power transmission
Holbrook Superconductor Project
The Holbrook Superconductor Project is a project to design and build the world's first
production superconducting transmission power cable. The cable was commissioned in late June 2008.
The suburban Long Island electrical substation is fed by about 600-meter-long underground cable system
consists of about 99 miles of high-temperature superconductor wire manufactured by American
Superconductor, installed underground and chilled with liquid nitrogen greatly reducing the costly right-
of-way required to deliver additional power.[6]
Tres Amigas Project
American Superconductor was chosen for The Tres Amigas Project, the United States’ first renewable
energy market hub.[7] The Tres Amigas renewable energy market hub will be a multi-mile, triangular
electricity pathway of superconductor electricity pipelines capable of transferring and balancing many
gigawatts of power between three U.S. power grids (the Eastern Interconnection, the Western
Interconnection and the Texas Interconnection). Unlike traditional powerlines, it will transfer power as
DC instead of AC current. It will be located in Clovis, New Mexico.
Essen inner city
Essen, Germany has the world's longest superconducting power cable in production at 1 kilometer. It is a
10 kV liquid nitrogen cooled cable. The cable is smaller than an equivalent 110 kV regular cable and the
lower voltage has the additional benefit of smaller transformers.[8][9]
Voerde aluminium plant
An aluminium plant in Voerde, Germany plans to use superconductors for cables carrying 200 kA, citing
lower volume and material demand as advantages.[10][11]
Magnesium diboride
Magnesium diboride is a much cheaper superconductor than either BSCCO or YBCO in terms of cost per
current-carrying capacity per length (cost/(kA*m)), in the same ballpark as LTS, and on this basis many
manufactured wires are already cheaper than copper. Furthermore, MgB2 superconducts at temperatures
higher than LTS (its critical temperature is 39 K, compared with less than 10 K for NbTi and 18.3 K for
Nb3Sn), introducing the possibility of using it at 10-20 K in cryogen-free magnets or perhaps eventually
in liquid hydrogen. However MgB2 is limited in the magnetic field it can tolerate at these higher
temperatures, so further research is required to demonstrate its competitiveness in higher field
applications.
Trapped field magnets
Exposing superconducting materials to a brief magnetic field can trap the field for use in machines such
as generators. In some applications they could replace traditional permanent magnets.

Superconducting Applications
The unique properties of superconductivity facilitated many great discoveries of the 20th century such as
the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique. Established commercial applications
of superconductivity are dominated by the use of LTS materials and include:
• Magnets for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Low and high field magnets for Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance (NMR)
• Low and high field magnets for physical sciences
and research
• Accelerators for high-energy physics
• Large scale magnet demonstrators for plasma
fusion reactors
• Industrial magnets for materials magnetic separation
All these applications are only possible because of the significant improvement in production of LTS
wires in long lengths with uniform performance.
Other small-scale commercial applications of superconductivity that use LT S materials include research
magnets, Magneto Encephalography (MEG) based on Superconducting Quantum Interference Device
(SQUID) technology used for measuring weak magnetic fields generated by the brain. These
superconducting magnets saw their first uses in laboratories as an enabling device for
experimentation and developed into a market of 4B€ dominated by the bioimaging Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI) scanning machines and the Nuclear Magnet Resonance (NMR) scientific instruments
used widely by researchers and pharmaceutical companies for drug research and development.
What are superconductors used for?
If you set up a current in a loop of superconductor there is nothing to stop it and it will continue flowing
forever, forming a very powerful electromagnet, that needs no maintenance other than keeping them cold.
The strongest man made permanent magnetic fields are produced using superconductors.
Superconducting magnets are used in MRI (Magentic Resonance Imaging) which is a way of looking at
the soft parts of the body.
They are also going to be used in the new ‘Large Hadron Collider’ experiment at the CERN Particle
Physics Lab. The idea is to accelerate protons and antiprotons to almost the speed of light in a circle and
then smash them together. To keep the particles in a circle requires huge magnetic fields which can only
be provided by superconductors.
 
It is also possible to use superconducting magnets to produce a levitating train. The idea is to put very
powerful light superconducting magnets on the train, then use copper coils in the track which use
repulsion to lift the train up to make it levitate. It is also possible to use the track magnets to push the train
along. Because this force is not limited by friction between wheels and a track it is theoretically possible
for a maglev train to go much faster and more importantly accelerate and brake faster than a conventional
train. Various test maglev trains have been built, in Birmingham, Japan and Germany, although the only
one used commercially is a german design built in Shanghi, which uses very strong permanent magnets
instead of superconductors.

Superconducting Sensors
Due to a subtlety of the quantum mechanics of how superconductors interact with magnetic fields, it is
possible to make the most sensitive magnetometers possible called SQUIDs (Superconducting Quantum
Interference Devices). These can be used to detect submarines, measure the magnetic field produced by
your brain, find ore deposits deep underground, sense minute signals from stars etc.
Power Cables
An obvious use of superconductors would be to move power around, huge amounts of electrical energy
are wasted just heating up power cables, and superconductors would help. However if you put alternating
current through them they are no longer lossless, and it reqiures a lot of energy to cool them, so although
it is possible they could be used to save energy in the long run in the short term it is more likely they will
be used to save space, superconducting cables have been installed in Chicago and Copenhagen, in old
cable ducts with restricted space, allowing you to get more power through the same duct, hence saving
lots of money digging up the road. Similarly the US Navy is very interested in them for making small
powerful electric motors to power ships with, because it is efficient to put the propellers on pods under
the ship however the bigger the motor the more drag it produces, so a much smaller superconducting
motor would be advantageous.
So superconductors may not be about to revolutionise the world like it looked in 1986, but they are
becoming more and more useful in the modern world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconductivity#Applications

http://cesur.en.ankara.edu.tr/superconducting-applications/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_applications_of_superconductivity