Superconductivity Essay

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Superconductivity Certain metals and alloys shows almost zero resistivity (i.e. infinite conductivity) when they are cooled to sufficiently low temperatures. This is one of the unusual properties of solids. This property of solids is called superconductivity. Superconductivity in solids was first observed by H.K. Onnes in 1911. When he was measuring the electrical resistivity of metals at low temperatures, he found that the resistivity of pure mercury was suddenly dropped to zero when it was cooled down to below 4 K. After this discovery, hundreds of superconductors have been discovered and studied. In olden days, scientists believed that the superconductivity is a low temperature phenomenon. Only in recent days, it was discovered that few new oxides exhibit zero resistivity just below 125 K itself. Superconductivity has many important applications in various fields such as energy technology, telecommunication, computing, superfast transportation, medicine and in many fields. The temperature at which the solids become superconducting state is called critical temperature (Tc). This is sometimes called transition temperature. It can be defined as it is the temperature at which the transition from normal state to superconducting state takes place on cooling in the absence of magnetic field. The following are the some important features and properties of superconductors: 1. The transition to superconductor is very sharp in chemically pure and structurally perfect materials; whereas, in impure and structurally imperfect materials, the transition range is very wide. 2. The transition temperature is varying for materials to material. 3. Superconductivity is found to occur in metallic elements whose valence electron lies between 2 to 8. 4. The elements within the inner column of the periodic table exhibits superconductivity. 5. Ferromagnetic and

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