ABSTRACT

Superconductivity: is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical

resistance and expulsion of magnetic fields occurring in certain
materials when cooled below a characteristic critical
temperature. It was discovered by Dutch physicist Heike
Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like
ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is
a quantum mechanical phenomenon. It is characterized by the
Meissner effect, the complete ejection of magnetic field lines
from the interior of the superconductor as it transitions into
the superconducting state. The occurrence of the Meissner
effect indicates that superconductivity cannot be understood
simply as the idealization of perfect conductivity in classical
physics. The electrical resistivity of a metallic conductor
decreases gradually as temperature is lowered. In ordinary
conductors, such as copper or silver, this decrease is limited
by impurities and other defects. Even near absolute zero, a
real sample of a normal conductor shows some resistance. In a
superconductor, the resistance drops abruptly to zero when
the material is cooled below its critical temperature. An
electric current flowing through a loop of superconducting wire
can persist indefinitely with no power source. In 1986, it was
discovered that some cuprate-perovskite ceramic materials
have a critical temperature above 90 K (−183 °C). Such a
high transition temperature is theoretically impossible for a
conventional superconductor, leading the materials to be
termed high-temperature superconductors. Liquid nitrogen
boils at 77 K, and superconduction at higher temperatures
than this facilitates many experiments and applications that
are less practical at lower temperatures.
CONCLUSION
A superconductor has zero resistance to flow of electric
current, and can sustain a current indefinitely. The magnetic
flux remains constant in a completely superconducting circuit,
since changes in the flux from the field applied to the circuit
are balanced by changes to (persistent) currents induced in
the circuit. For each superconductor there is a critical
temperature Tc below which the material is superconducting.
Superconductors also exhibit perfect diamagnetism,
with B = 0 in the bulk of the material. The exclusion of
magnetic field is known as the Meissner effect. An external
magnetic field penetrates for a short distance into the surface
of a superconducting material, and a current flows in the
surface layer to screen the interior of the material from the
applied field. Superconductivity is destroyed when the
magnetic field strength exceeds a critical value for the
material. The critical field strength falls to zero as the
temperature is raised to the critical temperature. A
superconducting specimen will have a critical current Ic above
which the material reverts to the normal state. This critical
current corresponds to the field strength exceeding the critical
field strength in some region of the specimen.
There are two types of superconductors, type-I and type-II.
For a type-I material in the form of a thin specimen parallel
to the field, there is an abrupt transition to the normal
state at the critical field strength Bc. When the field is
inclined to the surface of a type-I material, the material
exists in the intermediate state over a range of field
strengths below Bc. In this state there are thin layers of
normal and superconducting material, with the proportion of
normal material rising to unity at field strength Bc. In type-I
materials, the coherence length ξ is greater than the
penetration depth λ, and the surface energy of the boundary
between superconducting and normal material is positive,
which favours a course subdivision into regions of normal and
superconducting material.
A type-II superconductor has two critical field
strengths, Bc1 and Bc2, between which the material is in the
mixed state. In this state the superconductor is threaded by
thin cores of normal material, through which the magnetic
field passes. The coherence length ξ is shorter than the
penetration depth λ, and the surface energy of the boundary
between superconducting and normal material is negative,
which favours a fine subdivision into regions of normal and
superconducting material. To take advantage of the high
values of Bc2 to produce high magnetic fields with
superconducting magnets, it is essential to pin the normal
cores to inhibit their motion.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Primarily, I would like to thank God for being able to
complete this project with success. Then I would like to thank
my physics teachers whose valuable guidance has been the ones
that helped me patch this project and make it full proof
success. Their suggestions and instructions has served as the
major contributor towards the completion of the project.
Then I would like to thank my parents and friends who
have helped me with their valuable suggestions and guidance
has been helpful in various phases of the completion of the
project.
Last but not the least I would like to thank my
classmates who have helped me a lot throughout the project.

DEV NANDHINI R