Superconductivity: An Introduction
Kamerlingh Onnes
Liquefied He 1908
Transition Temperature or Critical Temperature (TC)
Temperature at which a normal conductor loses its
resistivity and becomes a superconductor.
• Definite for a material
• Superconducting transition reversible
• Very good electrical conductors not
superconductors eg. Cu, Ag, Au
Zero Resistance
• Hard to measure “zero” directly
• Can try to look at an effect of the zero resistance
• Current flowing in a SC ring
– Not thought experiment – standard configuration for high-field laboratory
magnets (10-20T)
• Nonzero resistance changing current changing magnetic field
• One such measurement
SC
1018
Cu
• R = 0 only for DC
• AC response arises from kinetic inductance of superconducting electrons
From Ustinov “Superconductivity” Lectures (WS 2008-2009)
Meissner-Oschenfeld Effect
(1933)
• B = 0 perfect diamagnetism: cM = -1
B 0 ( H M ) 0
M cH H
Apply
Cool
• Field expulsion unexpected; not discovered for field
20 years.
B/0 -M
Hc H Hc H
Effect of Magnetic Field
Critical magnetic field (HC) –
Element HC at 0K
Minimum magnetic field (mT)
required to destroy the Nb 198
superconducting property at Pb 80.3
any temperature
Sn 30.9
T 2
H C H 0 1
TC H0
H0 – Critical field at 0K Normal
T - Temperature below TC
HC
TC - Critical Temperature
Superconducting
T (K) TC
Levitation with High-Tc Superconductors
A kg or so of fish bowl
up to 202 kg of sumo wrestler!
[Link]
Types of Superconductors
Type I Type II
• Sudden loss of magnetisation • Gradual loss of magnetisation
• Exhibit Meissner Effect • Does not exhibit complete
• One HC = 0.1 tesla Meissner Effect
• No mixed state • Two HCs – HC1 & HC2 (≈30 tesla)
• Soft superconductor • Mixed state present
• Examples – Pb, Sn, Hg • Hard superconductor
• Examples – Nb-Sn, Nb-Ti
Superconducting Superconducting
-M
-M
Mixed
Normal Normal
HC H HC1 HC
HC2
H
Type II Superconductors
Superconducting
Normal state region
cores
[Link]
Superconductors: Type I and Type II
Type I (“soft” superconductors):
♣ Discovered first.
♣ Elemental, and show some conductivity at room temperature.
♣ Sharp transition to superconducting state at Tc.
♣ Perfect diamagnetism.
Type II (“hard” superconductors):
♣ Mechanically harder than Type I superconductors .
♣ Comprised of metallic compounds and alloys.
♣ Higher critical temperatures and magnetic fields.
♣ Transition from a normal to superconducting state is gradual across a
region of "mixed state" behavior.
Effect of Electric Current
• Large electric current – induces magnetic field – destroys
superconductivity
• Induced Critical Current iC = 2πrHC
Persistent Current
• Steady current which flows through a superconducting ring without
any decrease in strength even after the removal of the field.
• Diamagnetic property
Apply uniform Measure
field flux
Georg Bednorz and
Alex Muller
received the
Nobel Prize 1987
for discovery of
the first of the
copper-oxide
superconductors
resistivity ( cm)
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 …
Only by 10 K had the resistance
fallen to (possibly) zero !
Temperature ( K )
High-Tc Superconductivity
164 K
Paul Chu
Alex Müller and Georg Bednorz
373 K,BP of water
295 K,room temp
273 K,FP of water
138 K,Highest Tc for HgBaCaCuO
77 K,Liquid Nitrogen
4.2 K,Liquid Helium
Isotope Effect (observed in 1950)
First discovered in Mercury:
•If superconductivity was purely electronic there would be no
dependence on the nuclear masses of the elements in the
material…however a dependence is observed!
•First direct evidence for interaction between the electrons and the
lattice.
•Implies that the energy required to move the electrons through the
lattice comes, at least in part by, the lattice energy…this depends on
the mass of atoms in the lattice.
TC = Constant / Mα
TC Mα = Constant (α – Isotope Effect coefficient)
α ~0.5
TC√M = constant
[Link]
John Bardeen, Leon Cooper and Bob Schrieffer
“ B. C. S.”
Nobel Prize 1972 for their theory of 1957 which
explained conventional superconductors: nearly 50
years after their discovery by Kamerlingh Onnes!
Cooper Pairing
London Penetration Depth & Coherence Length
• An external magnetic field penetrates a distance of order L into the
superconductor. It is known as the London penetration depth.
• The magnetic field external to the superconductor decays exponentially as it
penetrates the superconductor-the decay constant is called the penetration depth
(L).
• It is proposed that the interactions producing the perfect superconducting order
that is encountered within the pure bulk superconductor have a range
characterized by a length (0).
• Within this region the super-electrons (Cooper pairs) act as a unit, i.e.
coherently. The parameter 0 is therefore called the coherence length.
The Condensate
• A superconductor consists of electrons occupying conventional one-electron
states and the condensate, which is single quantum state corresponding to
interacting Cooper pairs.
• The complete system of interacting pairs is phase-locked to form a unique
entity. If a pair is removed from the condensate than it must be ‘broken’ into
two independent electrons; this demands an energy 2Δ, the binding energy of a
Cooper pair within the condensate.
• Within the condensate all Cooper pairs must have the same energy and be
phase-locked. If the condensate moves, it must move coherently without
altering the energy or the phase-locking of the pairs.
• The only way in which a pair can behave differently from any other pair in the
condensate is by ceasing to be a pair, and this demands an energy 2Δ.
• In simple terms we may say that the condensate exists as a homogeneous
phase-locked entity, or it does not exist at all.
A Dance Analogy
According to Schrieffer
The wave function is just... symbols which record the dance the
electrons are making.
Now, we didn't invent the dance. Kammerlingh-Onnes discovered
that the dance was going on and we were the choreographers that
recorded what the dance was.
• An applied voltage pushes the entire condensate,
causing the whole ensemble of Cooper pairs to
drift in one direction, resulting in a net electrical
current.
• An increase in temperature produces a certain
thermal excitation of the condensate, thereby
causing it to become less stable. The pair
binding energy decreases.
• As the temperature is gradually increased the
cooperative stability of the condensate is slowly
diminished, leading to a progressive reduction in
2Δ.
• This process becomes increasingly rapid as T
approaches Tc. At T=Tc, 2Δ=0, the density of
pairs is zero; the condensate ceases to exist.
OPENING AND CLOSING OF A BAND GAP IN
A SUPERCONDUCTOR
We are still not
sure exactly why
this is important!
Have we reached
the maximum
possible Tc in this
class of materials?
The crystal structures of High-Tc Is a room-temperature
superconducting materials all have superconductor out there
copper-oxide CuO2 layers waiting to be discovered ??
Typical values of important
parameters (HTSC)
Hc1 & Hc2 (parallel to c-axis): 1 T &
120T
: ~1400 Å
: 10-30 Å in ab plane
~ 3 Å in perpendicular plane
Jc: ~104 amp./cm2 (bulk)
106-107 amp./cm2 (thin films)
The dream - “Tomorrow’s Superconducting World”
Energy Saving: magnetically
power lines launched
electric motors space
transformers shuttle
Cargo-
carrying
Medical submarines,
Diagnostics: all-electric
Magnetic US Navy
Resonance
Imaging
SQUID: 350 mph
Brain activity levitated
Heart function Intercity
trains
Computing: Information Technology: Underground rapid transit:
1000 times faster much faster, wider band Heathrow to Gatwick in 10
supercomputers communications minutes
Some of these dreams are already reality…
[Link]/quarterly/q_spring03/meg_helmet.shtml
[Link]/rd/maglev/html/english/maglev_frame_E.html
SQUID
measure-
ment of
neuro-
magnetic
signals
[Link]
Japanese levitating train has
superconducting magnets onboard
/indust/[Link]
(nuclear) magnetic
resonance imaging of the
brain, in the field from a
superconducting magnet
Superconducting power cable
installed in Denmark
“ You must study superconductivity in order to be
a honorable physicist. Superconductivity is a
profound science. If you would devote your
lifetime to study of nature, I would recommend
this area”