History

Superconductivity: the phenomenon exhibited by certain substances of

conducting electrical current without resistance when cooled to low temperatures.
(Webster 1343) Heike Kamerlingh Onnes first discovered this property in 1911
when an amount of mercury (Hg), supercooled with liquid helium (He) to 20
Kelvin (K), demonstrated no measurable resistance to electrical current. However,
at that time, practical implementations did not seem plausible because of the
extraordinary amounts of energy necessary to obtain the coolant, liquid helium,
and the extreme low temperatures needed to achieve a superconductive state. Up
until 1986, scientists believed that the critical temperature (Tc) for superconductors
was 20 K and below. However, that year, IBM scientists in Zurich discovered
compounds that were superconducting at temperatures up to 35 K (Ashley 59).
Only one year later, at the University of Houston, Dr. Paul Chu discovered a
compound that would display superconducting properties at 94 K. This was a
major discovery because liquid helium would no longer be needed to cool the
superconducting substances. Nitrogen (N), which exists in liquid state up to 77 K,
could now be used in place of He. This change from N to He was a major benefit
because its liquid temperature is achieved with much less energy and N is much
more available than He.

This new generation of superconductors, aptly dubbed 'High Temperature

Superconductors' (HTS), provided new hope for industrial and commercial uses.
Most HTS's are ceramic in nature when compared to earlier 'Low Temperature
Superconductors' (LTS) which were metallic. The companies at the forefront of
this emerging technology include Pirelli Cable Corporation , Electric Power
Research Institute (EPRI), Southwire Company, and American Superconductor.
Also aiding in the continuing research of superconductors is the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) , the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL), and the Department of Energy (DOE) which funds most of the research.

These organizations are currently researching two specific cable designs; each
with its own benefits and drawbacks. One type has the actual HTS material
enclosed in a cryogenic environment, which, in turn is surrounded by a
conventional room-temperature dielectric. A more popular design is one in which
there are two concentric HTS conductors used. The first type is suitable for pipe
'retrofitting'. While less HTS tapes are used in the room-temperature dielectric
model, there is a relatively high percentage of electric and thermal loss. Therefore,
while the initial costs are low, the overall lifetime operating costs are high
compared to the other model. This model, unlike the room-temperature one, uses
many expensive HTS tapes, making the initial cost higher. Once in operation, the
initial costs can be justified by the fact that they are much more efficient. The
cryogenic cables can carry a higher current, have smaller dimensions, and lower
power losses than their room-temperature counterparts (Rahman 32).

While these two designs are different, their main component, the HTS tape, is
the same. The HTS tapes are the actual superconducting substance with a covering
called a sheathing attached. There are four main materials that can be used to
produce HTS: yttrium-barium
-copper-oxide (YBCO), bismuth-
strontium-calcium-copper-oxide
(BSCCO), thallium-barium -calcium-
copper-oxide (TBCCO), or mercury-
barium-calcium-copper-oxide
(HBCCO). YBCO standard wire
thickness can support 1,200,000
A/cm2 at 75 K and 0 Tesla (T).
YBCO's structure is very resistant to
current loss from microscopic
malformations, compared to its
counterparts. BSCCO wire yields either 44,000 or 74,000 A/cm2 at 77 K and 0 T
depending on manufacturing process. However BSCCO is anisotropic which
means that its manufacture is much more complicated due to the fact that the
particles must be properly aligned in order for optimal current flow. TBCCO wire
current density is 68,000 A/cm2 at 77 K and 0 T. This compound along with
HBCCO have not been fully researched due to their toxic nature. Most
implementations of HTS today use YBCO or BSCCO conductors (Balachandran
147).

Benefits
The science of HTS is one of great importance because electricity accounts for
36% of the total energy used in the United States. By the year 2020 consumer
demand for electricity will increase by 50%. It is paramount to find a more
efficient means of energy transport to reduce unnecessary energy loss. This is why
HTS cables may very well be the answer to the future energy problems. Compared
to conventional copper wire structures, HTS cables retain twice as much energy
from resistance losses. Overall, the current capacity is 3 to 6 times more than that
of conventional methods (Ashley 62). If HTS cables were to be used in place of
conventional wiring, the space needed to transport the same amount of power
would be magnitudes smaller, and if the pre-existing conduits were altered to run
HTS cables, the increased energy supplied by these 'pipes' would benefit all
involved.
 HTS cables also provide increased stability over conventional counterparts. The
cables are less prone to electrical spikes and surges, because of their underground
placement, thus protecting all components attached to the affected electrical grid.
In addition, HTS wiring structures are quite compatible with future add-on HTS
structures allowing for the implementation of the industry concept of 'deferred
expansion'.

The combined benefits of HTS wiring will also ease stress placed upon the
environment caused by power production facilities. If there is less loss of energy
in the transport, then less energy would have to be produced, and hence there is
less emission. Current transformers use an environmentally unfriendly, oil coolant
to increase performance, however, by using HTS wiring the nitrogen cooling
process can be interfaced and integrated with the transformers, creating a less
hazardous leak potential. The underground wiring will also require less above
ground space, thus saving trees and nearby obstructions.

Scientists See An 'Effect' Of

Superconductor Research, Find Evidence
That A Theoretical Phenomenon Is Real
Upton, NY - Recent research by a scientist at the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and his collaborators may lead to
new advances in electronic circuitry and new clues to the causes of high-
temperature superconductivity. The researchers found evidence to support the
existence of the theoretical “Giant Proximity Effect,” a physical phenomenon in
which a thick layer of a conventional metal conducts like a superconductor –
that is, with no resistance – when it is placed in contact with a superconducting
material.

The Giant Proximity Effect (GPE) is a theoretical relative of the established

Proximity Effect (PE), in which a very thin layer of ‘normal’ metal behaves like
a superconductor when placed between two thicker superconductor slices.
However, PE theory states that GPE, which occurs across a relatively thick
normal metal layer, should not be possible.

“Our discovery indicates PE theory may need to be revised to incorporate

GPE,” said Brookhaven physicist Ivan Bozovic, the study’s lead researcher.
“While that is significant in itself, this observation may also lead to a critical
step forward in the development of superconducting electronics.”
The research is published in the October 4, 2004 online edition of Physical
Review Letters.

In GPE, the normal-metal barrier layer is much larger than in the PE case, as
much as 100 times the thickness. In this experiment, the barrier layer was up to
20 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, thick. Having such dimensions makes
these “sandwiches,” called Josephson junctions, the right size for manufacturing
into components for “nano”-sized electric circuits.

Bozovic and his collaborators made a number of Josephson junctions with

varying barrier thicknesses. They used a high-temperature superconducting
material that contains lanthanum, strontium, copper, and oxygen (LSCO) and a
‘normal’ material called LCO, which lacks the strontium. LCO is technically a
superconductor, but behaves like a regular metal above a certain “transition”
temperature. Both LSCO and LCO are “cuprates,” a family of superconductors
that contain copper oxide. In this experiment, the thick LCO barrier transmitted
a superconducting current at temperatures well above its normal
superconducting temperature.

“Our experiment shows that, under the right conditions, at least, GPE is no
longer just a theoretical phenomenon,” said Bozovic. “In the cuprates we
studied, relatively thick barriers of normal metals can conduct a
superconducting current when sandwiched between two superconductors.”

In past experiments, other researchers have made the same claims, but have
been met with skepticism by the scientific community. This is partly due to
GPE’s utter inconsistency with the established theory, which states that the
electron pairs that make up a supercurrent can travel only one or two tenths of a
nanometer before separating. Additionally, possible experimental errors may
have skewed the results of these previous experiments. One example would be
“microshorts” – tiny superconductor filaments that pierce the barrier, causing
the appearance of a superconducting current across it.

In light of this, Bozovic and his collaborators carefully chose materials and
prepared their experimental setup to avoid these errors. LSCO and LCO are
very similar, and match up well at the atomic level when sandwiched together.
This results in an atomically smooth interface between the layers that lacks
microshorts and “pinholes,” tiny unwanted holes in the junction that could cause
a superconducting current to appear to pass through the normal metal layer.

In upcoming experiments, Bozovic and his colleagues plan to investigate how

the current is transmitted across the LCO barrier to learn more about the
mechanisms behind GPE. They will also look more closely at how the current
flow depends on the thickness of the barrier, the temperature of the junction,
and other factors.

The research is funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the
U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. It was performed in
collaboration with researchers at Stanford University and Oxxel, a technology
company in Bremen, Germany.

Two-Dimensional High-Temperature
Superconductor Discovered
Scientists at Brookhaven Lab have discovered a state of two-dimensional
(2D) fluctuating superconductivity in a high-temperature superconductor with a
particular arrangement of electrical charges known as "stripes."

The finding was uncovered during studies of directional dependence in the

material's electron-transport and magnetic properties. In the 2D plane, the
material acts as a superconductor - conducts electricity with no resistance - at a
significantly higher temperature than in the 3D state.

"The results provide many insights into the interplay between the stripe order
and superconductivity, which may shed light on the mechanism underlying
high-temperature superconductivity," said Brookhaven physicist Qiang Li.

Understanding the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity is one of

the outstanding scientific issues in condensed matter physics, Li said.
Understanding this mechanism could lead to new strategies for increasing the
superconducting transition temperature of other superconductors to make them
more practical for applications such as electrical transmission lines.

"As electricity demand increases, the challenge to the national electricity grid to
provide reliable power will soon grow to crisis levels," Li said.
"Superconductors offer powerful opportunities for restoring the reliability of the
power grid and increasing its capacity and efficiency by providing reactive
power reserves against blackouts, and by generating and transmitting
electricity."
Secrets Behind High Temperature
Superconductors Revealed
Scientists from Queen Mary, University of London and the University of
Fribourg (Switzerland) have found evidence that magnetism is involved in the
mechanism behind high temperature superconductivity.

Writing in the journal Nature Materials, Dr Alan Drew from Queen Mary's
Department of Physics and his colleagues at the University of Fribourg report
on the investigation of a new high temperature superconductor, the so-called
oxypnictides. They found that these exhibit some striking similarities with the
previously known copper-oxide high temperature superconductors - in both
cases superconductivity emerges from a magnetic state. Their results go some
way to explaining the mechanisms behind high temperature superconductors.

Superconductors are materials that can conduct electricity with no resistance,

but only at low temperatures. High temperature superconductors were first
discovered in 1986 in copper-oxides, which increased the operational
temperature of superconductors by more than 100°C, to -130°C and opened up a
wealth of applications. The complex fundamental physics behind these high
temperature superconductors has, however, remained a mystery to scientists.

Dr Drew said "Last year, a new class of high-temperature superconductor was

discovered that has a completely different make-up to the ones previously
known - containing layers of Arsenic and Iron instead of layers of Copper and
Oxygen. Our hope is that by studying them both together, we may be able to
resolve the underlying physics behind both types of superconductor and design
new superconducting materials, which may eventually lead to even higher
temperature superconductors."

Professor Bernhard, of the University of Fribourg, added: "Despite the

mysteries of high-temperature superconductivity, their applications are wide-
ranging. One exciting applications is using superconducting wire to provide
lossless power transmission from power stations to cities. Superconducting wire
can hold a much higher current density than existing copper wire and is lossless
and therefore energy saving."

An electrical current flowing round a loop of superconducting wire can also

continue indefinitely, producing some of the most powerful electromagnets
known to man. These magnets are used in MRI scanners, to 'float' the MagLev
train, and to steer the proton beam of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at
CERN. Envisaged future applications of superconductors exist also in ultrafast
electronic devices and in quantum computing.

New High-Temperature Superconductors

Are Iron-Based With Unusual Magnetic
Properties
In the initial studies of a new class of high-temperature superconductors
discovered earlier this year, research at the Commerce Department's National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has revealed that new iron-based
superconductors share similar unusual magnetic properties with previously
known superconducting copper-oxide materials.

These superconductors may one day enable energy and environmental gains
because they could significantly heighten the efficiency of transferring
electricity over the electric grid or storing electricity in off-peak hours for later
use.

"While we still do not understand how magnetism and superconductivity are

related in copper-oxide superconductors," explains NIST Fellow Jeffrey Lynn at
the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR), "our measurements show that
the new iron-based materials share what seems to be a critical interplay between
magnetism and superconductivity."

The importance of magnetism to high-temperature superconductors is

remarkable because magnetism strongly interferes with conventional low-
temperature superconductors. "Only a few magnetic impurities in the low-
temperature superconductors sap the superconducting properties away," says
Lynn.

By contrast, copper-oxide superconductors, discovered in 1986, tolerate higher

magnetic fields at higher temperatures. The highest performance copper-oxide
superconductors conduct electricity without resistance when cooled to
"transition temperatures" below 140 Kelvin (-133 Celsius) and can simply and
cheaply be cooled by liquid nitrogen to 77 Kelvin or (-196 Celsius).

Japanese researchers discovered earlier this year that a new class of iron-based
superconducting materials also had much higher transition temperatures than
the conventional low-temperature superconductors. The discovery sent
physicists and materials scientists into a renewed frenzy of activity reminiscent
of the excitement brought on by the discovery of the first high-temperature
superconductors over 20 years ago.
Earlier work on the copper-oxide superconductors revealed that they consist of
magnetically active copper-oxygen layers, separated by layers of non-magnetic
materials. By "doping," or adding different elements to the non-magnetic layers
of this normally insulating material, researchers can manipulate the magnetism
to achieve electrical conduction and then superconductivity.

The group of scientists studying the iron-based superconductors used the

NCNR, a facility that uses intense beams of neutral particles called neutrons to
probe the atomic and magnetic structure of the new material.

As neutrons probed the iron-based sample supplied by materials scientists in

Beijing, they revealed a magnetism that is similar to that found in copper-oxide
superconductors, that is, layers of magnetic moments--like many individual bar
magnets--interspersed with layers of nonmagnetic material. Lynn notes that the
layered atomic structure of the iron-based systems, like the copper-oxide
materials, makes it unlikely that these similarities are an accident.

One of the exciting aspects of these new superconductors is that they belong to
a comprehensive class of materials where many chemical substitutions are
possible. This versatility is already opening up new research avenues to
understand the origin of the superconductivity, and should also enable the
superconducting properties to be tailored for commercial technologies.

Researchers from the following institutions partnered with NIST in these

studies: University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Oak Ridge National Laboratory;
University of Maryland; Ames Laboratory; Iowa State University and the
Chinese Academy of Sciences' Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed
Matter Physics.

Iron-Based Materials May Unlock

Superconductivity’s Secrets
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
are decoding the mysterious mechanisms behind the high-temperature
superconductors that industry hopes will find wide use in next-generation
systems for storing, distributing and using electricity.

In two new papers on a recently discovered class of high-temperature

superconductors, they report that the already complicated relationship between
magnetism and superconductivity may be more involved than previously
thought, or that a whole new mechanism may drive some types of
superconductors.

At temperatures approaching absolute zero, many materials become

superconductors, capable of carrying vast amounts of electrical current with no
resistance. In such low-temperature superconductors, magnetism is a villain
whose appearance shatters the fragile superconductive state. But in 1986,
scientists discovered "high temperature" (HTc) superconductors capable of
operating much warmer than the previous limit of 30 degrees above absolute
zero.

In fact, today's copper-oxide materials are superconductive in liquid nitrogen, a

bargain-priced coolant that goes up to a balmy 77 degrees above absolute zero.
Such materials have enabled applications as diverse as high-speed maglev
trains, magnetic-resonance imagers and highly sensitive astronomical detectors.
Still, no one really understands how HTc superconductivity works, although
scientists have long suspected that in this case, magnetism boosts rather than
suppresses the effect.

The beginnings of what could be a breakthrough came in early 2008 when

Japanese researchers announced discovery of a new class of iron-based HTc
superconductors. In addition to being easier to shape into wires and otherwise
commercialize than today's copper-oxides, such materials provide scientists
fresh new subjects with which to develop and test theories about HTc
superconductivity's origins.

Scientists at NIST's Center for Neutron Research and a team including

researchers from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, the University of Maryland, Ames Laboratory and Iowa State
University used beams of neutrons to peek into a superconductor's atomic
structure. They first found iron-based superconductors to be similar to copper-
oxide materials in how "doping" (adding specific elements to insulators in or
around a HTc superconductor) influences their magnetic properties and
superconductivity.

Then the team tested the iron-based material without doping it. Under moderate
pressure, the volume of the material's crystal structure compressed an unusually
high 5 percent. Intriguingly, it also became superconductive without a hint of
magnetism.

The iron-based material's behavior under pressure may suggest the remarkable
possibility of an entirely different mechanism behind superconductivity than
with copper oxide materials, NIST Fellow Jeffrey Lynn said. Or it could be that
magnetism is simply an ancillary part of HTc superconductivity in general, he
said—and that a similar, deeper mechanism underlies the superconductivity in
both. Understanding the origin of the superconductivity will help engineers
tailor materials to specific applications, guide materials scientists in the search
for new materials with improved properties and, scientists hope, usher in
higher-temperature superconductors.

Magnetism Governs Properties Of Iron-

Based Superconductors
Though a year has passed since the discovery of a new family of high-
temperature superconductors, a viable explanation for the iron-based materials’
unusual properties remains elusive. But a team of scientists working at the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may be close to the
answer.

The team has found strong evidence that magnetism is a pivotal factor
governing the physical properties of iron pnictides, a group of materials that
conduct electricity without resistance at temperatures of up to 56 kelvin (-217
degrees celsius). Iron pnictides are composed of regularly spaced layers of iron
sandwiched between other substances. And although -217 might sound pretty
cold, they are the first class of materials found to superconduct at that high a
temperature since the discovery of copper-based superconductors more than two
decades ago.

The team’s evidence shows that, without taking magnetism into account,
theoretical calculations of iron pnictides’ inner structure do not line up with
actual lab measurements. Factor in magnetism, though, and these discrepancies
vanish—a decisive difference that, according to theorist Taner Yildirim, could
imply that magnetism is also key to iron pnictide superconductivity.

“Without considering magnetism, for example, the calculated distance between

iron layers—a distance that has been thoroughly measured—comes out to be
wrong,” says Yildirim, of NIST’s Center for Neutron Research. “However,
provided that we consider magnetic spin in our calculations, we can explain
almost all of the iron pnictides’ structural and dynamic properties.”

Yildirim gave an invited talk at the March meeting of the American Physical
Society, where he presented theoretical evidence demonstrating how magnetism
controls basic aspects of iron pnictides as the position of the atoms, the
materials’ phase transition, i.e. the sudden changes in the structure with
temperature, and—probably, Yildirim says—their superconducting properties.
“Determining the mechanism of superconductivity in iron pnictide systems is
very important in solving the long-standing mystery of the high temperature
superconductor phenomena in general,” Yildirim says. “Once we have such an
understanding of this strange phenomenon, we can then make predictions and
design new materials with even higher superconductivity temperatures.”