THE HISTORY OF SUPERCONDUCTORS Superconductivity was discovered by H. Kamerlingh-Onnes in Holland in 1911 as a result of his investigations leading to the liquefaction of helium gas. In Onnes' time superconductors were simple metals like mercury, lead, bismuth etc. These elements become superconductors only at the very low temperatures of liquid helium. During the 75 years that followed, great strides were made in the understanding of how superconductors worked. Over that time, various alloys were found that were superconductors at somewhat higher temperatures. Unfortunately, none of these alloy superconductors worked at temperatures much more than 23 Kelvin. Thus, liquid helium remained the only convenient refrigerant that could be employed with these superconductors.
Then in 1986, researchers at an IBM laboratory in Switzerland, discovered that ceramics from a class of materials called perovskites were superconductors at a temperature of about 35 Kelvin. This event sparked great excitement in the world of physics, and earned the Swiss scientists a Nobel prize in 1987. As a result of this breakthrough, scientists began to examine the various perovskite materials very carefully. In February of 1987, a perovskite ceramic material was found that was a superconductor at 90 Kelvin. This was very significant because now it became possible to use liquid nitrogen as the refrigerant. Since these materials superconduct at a significantly higher temperature, they are called High Temperature Superconductors.
There are several advantages in using liquid nitrogen instead of liquid helium. Firstly, the 77 Kelvin temperature of liquid nitrogen is far easier to attain and maintain than the chilly 4.2 Kelvin of liquid helium. Liquid nitrogen also has a much greater capacity to keep things cold than does liquid helium. Most importantly, nitrogen constitutes 78% of the air we breathe, and thus unlike liquid helium, for which there are only a few limited sources, it is relatively much cheaper.
The interest in the new superconductors continues to mount. Many Governments, Corporations and Universities are investing large sums of money in this to investigate this major breakthrough that many have hailed as important as the invention of the transistor.
Information Courtesy of CSI Superconductors