Last week, the South Korean research team published a paper on room temperature superconductors, which unexpectedly set off a global thermal superconductivity boom, and today we will take advantage of the heat to introduce the history of superconductors
Superconductors are an amazing physical phenomenon that exhibits properties of zero resistance and complete repulsion of magnetic fields under certain conditions. The development of this field is entangled with many famous scientists, important experimental discoveries and theoretical breakthroughs. Let’s explore the trajectory of superconductor history and understand how it has gradually been revealed and applied from a mysterious phenomenon.
The history of superconductors dates back to the end of the 19th century. In 1881, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes successfully cooled helium to near absolute zero (-273.15°C or 0K). At low temperatures near absolute zero, Leiden unexpectedly observed the sudden disappearance of the electrical resistance of certain metals, the first discovery of the superconductor phenomenon. Lyden continued to dig deeper and found that this phenomenon was not limited to metals, but also included some compounds and alloys.
However, the mystery of superconductors was not fully understood at the time. It wasn’t until 1933 that Swiss physicists Walter Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld collaborated to propose the famous Disney-Ockumbel effect, which revealed the repulsion of magnetic fields by superconductors, known as the “Disney effect.” This discovery not only enriched the understanding of superconductors, but also provided a basis for later superconductor applications.
As the study of superconductors deepened, scientists began to work to explain the nature of the superconductor phenomenon. In 1957, John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and Robert Schrieffer proposed the famous BCS theory, which explained the mechanism by which superconductor electrons were paired. The BCS theory has become an important framework for understanding the behavior of low-temperature superconductors and laid a theoretical foundation for superconductor research.
However, early superconductors could only exhibit superconductivity at extremely low temperatures, which limited their practical application. It wasn’t until 1986 that the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity caused a sensation in the scientific community. Since the research team included Swiss physicist Georg Bederner, German physicist K. Alexander Müller. Alex Müller) and American physicist J. George Beedner Georg Bednorz), who discovered that compounds like copper oxides can achieve superconductivity at relatively high temperatures. This breakthrough means that superconductors may no longer be limited to extremely low temperature environments, but are expected to play a role in more practical applications.
Since then, research on high-temperature superconductors has come a long way. Scientists have discovered a variety of high-temperature superconducting materials and gradually solved some mysteries of high-temperature superconductivity. These materials are superconducting at the temperature of liquid nitrogen, which opens up more possibilities for superconducting applications, such as power transmission, magnetic levitation and electronic components.
The application of superconductors is constantly expanding. In terms of power transmission, the use of superconducting wire can greatly reduce the energy loss during current transmission and improve the efficiency of energy utilization. In addition, superconducting magnets play an important role in medical diagnostic techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and have potential applications in scientific research, accelerators and quantum computing.
To sum up, the development of superconductor history has experienced a view of phenomena from the early days
