superconductivity

Table of Contents

Introduction
Discovery
Thermal properties of superconductors
- Transition temperatures
- Specific heat and thermal conductivity
- Energy gaps
Magnetic and electromagnetic properties of superconductors
- Critical field
- The Meissner effect
- High-frequency electromagnetic properties
- Magnetic-flux quantization
- Josephson currents
Higher-temperature superconductivity
- Discovery and composition of high-temperature superconductors
- Structures and properties
- Applications

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Figure 1: Specific heat in the normal (Cen) and superconducting (Ces) states of a classic superconductor as a function of absolute temperature. The two functions are identical at the transition temperature (Tc) and above Tc.

Figure 2: Magnetization as a function of magnetic field for a type I superconductor and a type II superconductor.

Figure 3: Maximum zero-voltage (Josephson) current passing through a junction by Cooper-pair tunneling as a function of magnetic field.

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superconductivity: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	cryogenic conductor • superconductor

Photos

Figure 1: Specific heat in the normal (Cen) and superconducting (Ces) states of a classic superconductor as a function of absolute temperature. The two functions are identical at the transition temperature (Tc) and above Tc.

Figure 2: Magnetization as a function of magnetic field for a type I superconductor and a type II superconductor.

Figure 3: Maximum zero-voltage (Josephson) current passing through a junction by Cooper-pair tunneling as a function of magnetic field.

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Topics

Meissner effect Josephson effect BCS theory electromagnetic penetration depth type I superconductor transition temperature superconducting coherence length type II superconductor high-Tc superconductor Cooper electron pair thermal conductivity superfluidity adiabatic demagnetization

Key People

Ivar Giaever, 1966.

Ivar Giaever

American physicist

Vitaly Ginzburg

Russian physicist

Josephson, Brian D.

Brian D. Josephson

British physicist

Thouless, David

David Thouless

British-born American physicist

Kamerlingh Onnes

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes

Dutch physicist

K. Alex Müller

K. Alex Müller

Swiss physicist

J. Michael Kosterlitz

J. Michael Kosterlitz

British-born American physicist

Abrikosov, Alexey A.

Alexey A. Abrikosov

Russian physicist

Fritz Wolfgang London

American physicist

Leo Esaki

Leo Esaki

Japanese physicist

Schrieffer, John Robert

John Robert Schrieffer

American physicist

J. Georg Bednorz

German physicist

Quiz

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