Tutorial Set-09

Solid State Physics 2023

Department of Physics & Astrophysics
University of Delhi, Delhi-110007

1. Solve the London equations for an infinite superconducting plate of finite thickness 2t.
Assume that the magnetic field of magnitude Bo is applied parallel to the plate. Find both
the magnetic field and the supercurrent inside the plate.

2. The superconductor tin has Tc = 3.7 K and Bc = 30.6 mT at T = 0 K. Calculate the

critical current for a tin wire of diameter 1 mm at T = 2 K. What diameter of wire would
be required to carry a current of 100 A?

3. A solenoid is used to investigate the resistivity of superconducting Nb3Zr. The solenoid is

25 cm long with a diameter of 10 cm. It has 984 turns of a Nb3Zr wire of diameter 0.47
mm. The decay of the current is governed by

where R is the resistance and L the inductance. The decay was found to be less than 1 per
109 in one hour. Deduce an upper limit for the electrical resistivity of superconducting
Nb3Zr.