DailyDirt: Closer To Understanding Superconductivity

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Mon, Dec 22nd 2014 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The phenomenon of superconductivity could be extremely useful -- if the materials that exhibit the behavior could do so at ambient conditions. The first material discovered to conduct electricity with no resistance was mercury in 1911, but mercury requires temperatures below 10 °K to do this. In 1986, a high temperature superconductor was found that seemed to work around liquid nitrogen temperatures. We've made some progress pushing the limits of the superconductors we've made so far, and it looks like we may be on the cusp of a much better understanding these materials and how they work. Here are just a few links on the matter.

Superconductivity at room temperature has been an unattainable goal for decades (or almost a century), until recently. Using short infrared laser pulses, a ceramic material was made superconducting at room temperature... for only a few picoseconds. [url]
Over 60,000 papers have been published on so-called high temperature superconductors since 1986, but the phenomenon is not well understood at all. The "high temperatures" above -237 °C are still pretty chilly, but it's been hard to find examples of different superconductors that could help elucidate the mechanism. Researchers have recently discovered a new class of superconducting material, but we're still a long way from really understanding what's going on. [url]
Physicists are starting to come up with better explanations for superconductivity and how it occurs. There doesn't seem to be any good reasons why superconductivity can't persist at room temperatures, but there may very well be practical barriers that we just haven't found yet. [url]

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Filed Under: materials, mercury, physics, science, superconductivity, ybco

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Pixelation, 22 Dec 2014 @ 5:33pm

Arturo Toscanini was a super conductor. I'm pretty sure he was very close to room temperature...
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Editor-In-Chief, 22 Dec 2014 @ 6:14pm

One reason for the lack of progress in understanding is ...
the underlying model or models they use. The Standard Model, though somewhat successful, has a few major flaws. It has too many magic numbers and/or properties being assigned to the components of the model. They use the "just is" methodology instead of looking for other models that may give better relationships. This we can put down to the "don't rock the boat" mentality of preserving reputations.

I will not be surprised when the current crop of models are laid to rest and completely new models are put in place. There are a number of alternatives, some of which date back to the 1920's or there-about which are being revived which have the potential of a much better view of the natural world.

David Oliver Graeme Samuel Offenbach
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- Pixelation, 22 Dec 2014 @ 6:38pm
  
  Re: One reason for the lack of progress in understanding is ...
  So what you are saying is, we should switch from "Super conductors" to "Super models"?
  
  I concur...
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- Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 22 Dec 2014 @ 10:17pm
  
  Re: One reason for the lack of progress in understanding is ...
  Definitely something involving bosonic majority-carrier pairs, though, à la BCS?
  
  No?
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- max (profile), 23 Dec 2014 @ 5:25am
  
  Re: One reason for the lack of progress in understanding is ...
  It has been a few years since I worked in the semi-conductor field. I retired in 2005. About the time I retired, they were working on "Diamond" wafers, to make semi-conductors with.
  
  Supposedly, from what I could understand of it, they would run cooler. I had heard they got the expenses down pretty low, in making them.
  
  I thought this was going to be one of the ways, they hoped to develop superconductors?
  
  Had you heard of this process? If so, would it aid in the process of superconducting?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 23 Dec 2014 @ 7:11am
    
    Re: Re: One reason for the lack of progress in understanding is ...
    Diamond based semi-conductors has nothing to do with superconductors. The reason that diamond based semi-conductors would run cooler is because diamond is an extremely good conductor of heat (approximately 5 times better than copper). So removing the heat generated within the semi-conductor would be far more effective than the current process with silicon based semi-conductors. In fact, there already are diamond heat spreaders used to transfer heat from the semi-conductor to the heat sink.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Dec 2014 @ 6:59pm

Get it the easy way
Stop trying to find exotic material combinations to get the impedance down. Use the known properties of 2d graphene to make sandwiched layers of magnet and graphene. When you get the balance right, it will allow electrons to flow like a superfluid.
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eponymousCoward, 22 Dec 2014 @ 9:11pm

Kelvin
FYI: Kelvin isn't measure in degrees, it's an absolute scale.
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- Anonymous Coward, 23 Dec 2014 @ 6:46am
  
  Re: Kelvin
  A little research helps us not looks silly. It is called the Kelvin Scale but is reported in degrees:
  
  http://www.allaboutspace.com/chemistry/glossary/Kelvin.shtml
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  - Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 23 Dec 2014 @ 5:39pm
    
    Re: Kelvin
    The point being, a temperature of n kelvin is written as “nK”, not “n°K”.
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