Unique Properties of Superconductors | Applications of Superconductors

Useful Information about Superconductors

Sectors where superconductors are used now:

Superconductivity is a quantum state on a macroscopic scale.

Superconductors differ fundamentally in quantum physics behaviour from conventional conductors in the manner by which electrons move through the material - in a sense, they move in pairs. It is this quantum behaviour on a macroscopic scale that is responsible for the unique properties and performance benefits that differentiate superconductors from all other known conductors.

                                 Unique Properties of Superconductors

                                    - Zero resistance to direct current
                                    - Extremely high current carrying density
                                    - Extremely low resistance at high frequencies
                                    - Extremely low signal dispersion
                                    - High sensitivity to magnetic field
                                    - Exclusion of external magnetic field (perfect diamagnetism)
                                    - Rapid single flux quantum transfer
                                    - Close to speed of light signal transmission

Prof. Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
the discoverer of superconductivity in 1911 in Leiden (Holland)

Perfect diamagnetism

First measurement - zero resistivity in mercury

Electron pairing

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