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Module – IV
Superconductors
The phenomenon of superconductivity was discovered by Kamerlingh Onnes in 1911,
when he was measuring the resistivity of mercury at low temperature. He observed that the
electrical resistivity of pure mercury drops abruptly to zero at 4.2 K. He concluded that mercury
has passed into a new state which is called superconducting state. The temperature at which
the resistance disappears is called the transition temperature or critical temperature T C.
The phenomena in which, when the electrical resistance of the material drops suddenly
to zero, when it is cooled below certain temperature is known as superconductivity. The
material which exhibits such phenomena are called superconductors.
Temperature dependence of resistivity of Superconductors
Resistivity (𝜌) of superconductor decreases with decrease in temperature up to a
particular temperature TC. At TC, 𝜌 abruptly drops to zero as shown in figure (1). TC is called
the critical temperature and signifies the transition from normal state to the superconducting
state of the material under study.
TC Temperature
Fig 1: Variation of resistivity with temperature of superconductor.
The critical temperature for superconductors is the temperature at which the electrical
resistivity of a metal drop to zero. The transition is so sudden and complete that it appears to
be a transition to a different phase of matter; that is Superconducting phase. Critical
temperature is different for different superconductors. The table (1) shows the critical
temperature of some superconductors.
Table 1: Critical Temperature of superconductors
Superconductors Symbol Tc(K)
elements
Mercury Hg 4.2
Gallium Ga 1.15
Aluminum Al 1.20
Tin Sn 3.72
Vanadium V 5.38
Lead Pb 7.19
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Persistent Current
A superconductor is a perfect conductor. Once a current is setup in a closed loop of
superconducting wire, this current will continue to flow around the loop without any resistive
loss if the wire is kept below critical temperature. Such a steady current is known as persistent
current. Experimental evidence shows that the decay time exceeds 10 5 years!!
Critical field
The strength of minimum magnetic field required to just switch a material from
superconducting state to normal state is called critical field.
If T is the temperature of the superconducting material (T < T C), HC is the critical field
and HO is the field required to turn the superconductor to normal conductor at 0K.
The relation for critical field (HC) is given by
𝑇2
𝐻𝐶 = 𝐻𝑂 [1 − 2 ]
𝑇𝐶
Critical Current & Silsbee Rule
The maximum current carried by a superconductor at a temperature below T C without
losing the superconducting property is known as critical current (IC).
A current carrying conductor produces magnetic field. The magnitude of the field is
directly proportional to strength of the current. If the current in a superconductor exceeds
critical current (IC), then it may produce magnetic field which is strong enough to destroy the
superconducting property. Hence certain limitation on the current flowing in a superconductor
may be imposed. This is known as Silsbee rule.
Meissner Effect
In 1933, Walter Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld discovered a magnetic phenomenon that
showed that superconductors are not just perfect conductors. If a superconducting material is
cooled in a magnetic field down to the transition temperature, then at the transition
temperature, the magnetic lines are expelled/pushed out as shown in figure (2). This
phenomenon is called Meissner effect.
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Fig 2: Meissner effect
Consider a superconducting specimen around which a primary and a secondary coil are
wound, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The primary coil is connected to a battery and a key, while the
secondary coil is connected to a galvanometer.
Figure 3: Block diagram for Meissner effect
When the key (K) is closed, current begins to flow through the primary coil, producing a time-
varying magnetic flux. This change in flux induces a transient current in the secondary coil,
resulting in a deflection of the galvanometer (G). Once the current in the primary coil reaches
a steady value, the magnetic flux becomes constant; consequently, no further induction occurs,
and the galvanometer reading returns to zero.
When the temperature of the material is subsequently lowered below its critical temperature,
an immediate deflection is again observed in the galvanometer connected to the secondary
coil. This behavior arises because, upon entering the superconducting state, the material expels
magnetic flux from its interior as per the Meissner effect. The expulsion of magnetic field
lines alters the magnetic flux linked with the secondary coil, thereby inducing a current that
produces the observed galvanometer deflection.
Expression for Magnetic Field Strength due to Cylindrical wire
Consider a cylindrical wire of length L and radius R carrying current I. The magnetic field
produced by the current on the surface of the cylinder is B. Imagine an Amperian loop of radius
R around the cylinder as shown in figure 4.
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Figure 4: Magnetic field intensity due to a cylindrical wire
According to Ampere’s law
∮ 𝐵 . 𝑑𝑙 = 𝜇0 𝐼 (1)
𝐵 . 𝑑𝑙 = 𝐵 𝑑𝑙 cos 𝜃
The angle between the direction of B and the small elemental length dl is 0. Hence
𝐵 . 𝑑𝑙 = 𝐵 𝑑𝑙 cos 0
𝐵 . 𝑑𝑙 = 𝐵 𝑑𝑙
Now equation (1) becomes,
∮ 𝐵 𝑑𝑙 = 𝜇0 𝐼
𝑩 ∮ 𝑑𝑙 = 𝜇0 𝐼 (2)
But ∮ 𝑑𝑙 = 2𝜋𝑅, circumference of the amperian loop
Equation (2) becomes,
B (2R) = 0 I
Where B = 0H
0H (2R) = 0 I
𝐼
𝐻=
2𝜋𝑅
This is the expression for magnetic field strength, if the current is critical current, then
𝐼𝐶
𝐻=
2𝜋𝑅
Types of Superconductors
Based on behaviour of superconductors in an external magnetic field, superconductors can be
classified into the following two types:
i. Type – I or soft superconductor
ii. Type – II or hard superconductor
i. Type – I Superconductors: In this type of superconductors the magnetic field is totally
excluded from the interior of the superconductor below a certain magnetic field (HC). At the
HC, the material loses superconducting abruptly. Now, the magnetic field penetrates fully
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within the material and the material becomes a normal state. Such type of superconductors is
termed as type – I superconductors.
Type - I
M
Super Normal
Conducting state
HC
Fig 5: Magnetization curve for type – I
Such type of superconductors exhibits the complete Meissner effect. They are perfectly
diamagnetic. Their magnetization curve is as shown in figure (5). Transition at HC is reversible,
i.e., if the magnetic field is reduced below HC, the material again acquires the property of
superconductivity. Lead, Tin Mercury and many more are the examples of type – I
superconductors and they have low value of HC (about 0.1 T). Type – I superconductors are
also called as soft superconductors because the superconductivity is destroyed very easily at
low HC values.
ii. Type – II superconductors: This type of superconductors is characterized by the
existence of two critical magnetic field i.e., lower critical magnetic field (HC1) and upper
critical magnetic field (HC2), as shown in figure (6).
Type - II
M
Super
Conducting Normal
Mixed state
state
HC1 HC2
Fig 6: Magnetization curve for type – II superconductors
When H < HC1 the material is in the superconducting state and it behaves as a perfect
Diamagnet. Whereas, when H > HC1 the flux penetrates the body and fills partially with
further increase in H, the flux filling also increases thereby decreasing the diamagnetic part
of the material and covers the entire body when H becomes equal or greater than a second
critical value HC2. The material then turns into a normal conductor. HC1 and HC2 are called
lower critical field and upper critical field respectively.
When H lies between HC1 and HC2 the material loses some of its diamagnetic
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properties and enters a mixed state called vortexstate. When H > HC2 the material enters the
normal state. Generally, alloys of transition metals with high electrical resistivity in normal
state are examples of type – II superconductors. Since the superconductivity is not
destroyed easily, till the large magnetic field is applied. Hence, the type – II
superconductors are called as hard superconductors. It is found that HC2 for type – II
superconductors may be 100 times more than HC value of type – I. HC2 up to 50 T have been
found in some materials.
BCS Theory of Superconductors
This theory was proposed by Bardeen-Cooper-Schieffer (BCS) in 1957 and it is
mainly based on the concept of cooper pair.
According to this theory, Superconductivity is due to the formation of cooper pairs.
“Cooper pairs are the pair of electrons formed by the interaction between electrons with
opposite spin and momentum in a phonon field.
Consider an electron approaching a positive ion core and suffers attractive coulomb
interaction. Due to this attraction, lattice gets distorted. Let another electron come in the
way of distorted lattice and interaction between the two occurs. The two electrons therefore
interact through the lattice distortion (phonon field) which lowers the energy of the
electrons. This interaction is called as electron - lattice - electron interaction. It was shown
by Cooper that, this attractive force becomes maximum if two electrons have opposite spins
and momentum. The attractive force may exceed coulombs repulsive force between the two
electrons below the critical temperature, which results in the formation of bound pair of
electrons called cooper pairs.
Thus, formed electron pairs will be having good correlation and stay together over
large distance (> 10-6 m). The number of cooper pairs increases within no time and all of
them will be having single wave function. They can be treated as a single ‘macromolecule’.
The entire set of electron pairs is now moving in particular direction and constitute electric
current. To resist such a current, one has to alter the correlated motion of all the pairs (not
just some individual electrons). Since it requires a relatively large amount of energy, current
persists for a long duration. This is how zero resistance state can be explained.
High Temperature Superconductors
It has long been a dream of scientists working in the field of superconductivity to find a
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material that becomes a superconductor at room temperature. A discovery of this type will
revolutionize every aspect of modern-day technology such as power transmission and storage,
communication, transport and even the type of computers we make. All of these advances will
be faster, cheaper and more energy efficient. This has not been achieved to date. However, in
1986 a class of materials was discovered by Bednorz and Müller that led to superconductors
that we use today on a bench-top with liquid nitrogen to cool them. Not surprisingly, Bednorz
and Müller received the Nobel Prize in 1987 (the fastest-ever recognition by the Nobel
committee). The material we mostly use on bench-tops is Yttrium – Barium – Copper Oxide,
or YBa2Cu3O7, otherwise known as the 1-2-3 superconductor, and are classified as high
temperature (Tc) superconductors. Critical temperatures as high as 135 K have been achieved.
Whilst this is not room temperature, it has made experiments on superconductivity accessible
to more people since these need only be cooled by liquid nitrogen (with a boiling point of liquid
nitrogen is 77 K), which is cheap and readily available. This is in contrast to the expensive and
bulky equipment that used liquid helium for cooling the traditional types of superconductors.
Moreover, the superconductors are calculated to have an upper critical magnetic field, HC2, of
about 200 Tesla – huge! Unlike traditional superconductors, conduction mostly occurs in the
planes containing the copper oxide. It has been found that the critical temperature is very
sensitive to the average number of oxygen atoms present, which can vary. For this reason, the
formula for 1-2-3 superconductor is sometimes given as YBa2Cu3O7-δ where δ is a number
between 0 and 1. The nominal distance between cooper pairs (coherence length) in these
superconductors can be as short as one or two atomic spacings. As a result, the coulomb
repulsion force will generally dominate at these distances causing electrons to be repelled rather
than coupled. For this reason, it is widely accepted that Cooper pairs, in these materials, are
not caused by a lattice deformation, but may be associated with the type of magnetism present
(known as antiferromagnetism) in the copper oxide layers.
Superconductors having higher critical temperatures are called high temperature
superconductors. All high temperature superconductors are not pure metals, but they are
different types of oxides of copper. And bear a particular type of crystal structure called
Pervoskite crystal structure. It is found that, the critical temperature is higher for those materials
having a greater number of copper oxygen layers. It is found that the formations of super
currents in high temperature superconductors are directionaldependent.
The super currents are strong in copper oxygen planes and weak in a direction
perpendicular to the copper oxygen planes.
Applications to Superconductors
Superconductors can be used to fabricate electronic & radio frequency devices.
Superconductivity can be used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Superconductors can be used as a shield.
Superconducting materials can be used as magnetic energy storage.
Superconductors can also be used to make a device known as a superconducting
quantum interference device (SQUID).
These can be used to prepare powerful electromagnets.
Levitating trains have been built that use powerful electromagnets made from
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superconductors.
Superconductors can also be used as a source for nuclear fusion reaction.
Superconductors are used in computers and information processing.
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