AN INTRODUCTION TO

SUPERCONDUCTORS AND IT’S

PROPERTIES

Presented by-
Dristie Kalita
MSc Chemistry 2nd yr.
 INTRODUCTION

 In year 1911, H.Kramer Lingh

was working with mercury
 He observed that at 4.2 K, the
resistance of Hg becomes zero

 Superconductor is a material which shows zero resistance

 Below a certain temperature, it shows this property called superconductivity
 This temperature is known as critical temperature
 Above critical temperature the material is in normal state
 Below critical temperature the material is in superconducting state.
 28 metals display superconductivity, T< 10 K

 Intermetallics and alloys , T < 20 K

 Ceramics, T < 90 K (1986)

 PROPERTIES OF SUPERCONDUCTORS

1. Electrical resistance: Virtually zero electrical resistance

2. Effect of impurity: When some amount of impurities are added to a
superconducting material, the value of it’s critical temperature decreases.
3. Effect of stress and pressure: On increasing pressure on certain materials
like Caesium, it starts showing superconducting behaviour.
The critical temperature of caesium Tc= 1.5 K, on applying a pressure of 110 kilo
bar
4. Persistent Current:
 When the current flows through a superconducting material ring below Tc, then
the loss in current value in form of heat is negligible
 No loss in energy conduction due to extremely less resistance
 Hence the current flows through the ring for a long time
 The constant flow of current in a superconducting ring without any potential
applied is called the persistent current.
5. Effect of magnetic field:

 When a strong magnetic field is applied to a superconductor below it’s critical

temperature, the material loses it’s superconducting state.
 The minimum magnetic field which is required to destroy the superconducting state
is called the critical magnetic field Hc

Hc=H0[1-(T/Tc)2]
Hc= critical field at T
H0= critical field strength at T= 0 K
Tc= critical temperature
Meissner effect:

 Superconductors are perfectly diamagnetic (Meissner)

 Perfectly diamagnetic means the magnetic induction B
inside the superconductor is always zero in superconducting
state
 Complete rejection of all the magnetic field by a
superconducting material is called Meissner effect
6. Critical current Ic or critical current density Jc:

 The current density at which the superconductor properties

disappear is called critical current density Jc
When the current density flowing through a superconductor
increases more than critical current density value Jc, the
material comes to normal state and superconducting
properties disappear
 When the current flowing through a superconducting
material increases, the magnetic field generated
around the superconductor also increases
7. Isotope effect:
This effect was discovered by Maxwell and Reynold in 1950-51

 For superconducting materials, the critical temperature is inversely proportional to

the square root of isotopic mass M.
Tc ∝ 1/√M
APPLICATIONS OF SUPERCONDUCTORS
THANK YOU!