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REVIEW
Abstract
This study discusses the development in the field of superconductivity with a focus on the analysis of research publications
in superconductivity based on the information from the Web of Science from 1929 to 2021. The work provides the most
comprehensive scientometric study on superconductivity to date, which covers the analysis of 79,061 publications. Specifi-
cally, the following analyses were conducted: research trends between 1929 and 2021, country-wise research productivity,
journal sources analysis, most productive organizations, most influential funding agencies, and research clusters. The study
demonstrates that there is a steady growth in superconductivity research. This study also revealed that the USA emerged
as the most prolific country with 19,587 publications and 738,984 citations, followed by Japan with 15,923 publications
and 347,488 citations, then China with 9743 publications and 152,487 citations, and Germany with 6402 publications and
166,211 citations. Also, the majority of the publications were published in Physical Review B, IEEE Transactions on Applied
Superconductivity, Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism, Physica C, Superconductivity and Its Applications,
Physical Review Letters. The most productive funding organizations identified are the National Natural Science Founda-
tion of China, United States Department of Energy, Ministry of Education Culture Sports Science and Technology Japan,
National Science Foundation, and Japan Society for The Promotion of Science. The authors believe this report will be useful
for scientists, funding organizations, and policymakers that are interested in superconductivity in making critical research
funding decisions.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
use of superconductors in other areas of applications. In a achieved in the study was 35 K, and it was an important result
bid to address this, there are ongoing efforts toward synthe- for which a Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded [15]. The find-
ses of a superconductor under room temperature and ambi- ing was important because initially, it was thought that the BCS
ent pressure [4]. The search for practical superconducting theory prohibits attainment of TC above 30 K.
materials has led to the development of high-temperature Another major milestone was achieved by substituting
superconductors and a greater understanding of the theo- lanthanum with yttrium (YBCO). This pushes the T C above
retical background unpinning the superconductivity and 90 K [16, 17]. This implies that cheaper liquid nitrogen can
uncovering novel phenomena closely related to supercon- be used as refrigerant instead of expensive liquid helium,
ductivity [5]. Numerous materials have been found to go into which also has some technical difficulty.
superconducting states, which have been classified based Around 1993, a new set of HTSCs (TC = 133–138 K)
on different categories, including (i) critical temperature, was found in a ceramic material that comprises mercury,
(ii) response to a magnetic field, (iii) material composition, barium, calcium, copper, and oxygen (HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8 + δ)
and (iv) theory underpinning the superconducting behavior. [18]. Also, another important discovery was made in 2008
Based on the critical temperature, a superconductor is classi- through the discovery of the iron-based family of HTSC by
fied as high-temperature SC if it reaches a superconducting the Hideo Hosono team of the Tokyo Institute of Technology
state at a temperature of 30 K and above. Such materials [18]. They found lanthanum oxygen fluorine iron arsenide
have a critical temperature that is 30 K and above [1]. Mate- (LaO1-xFx.FeAs) material to superconduct below 26 K [19].
rials with less than 30 K critical temperatures are generally This TC was later raised to 55 K by substituting lanthanum
classified as low-temperature superconductors [1]. SCs are in LaO1-xFx.FeAs with samarium [20].
mainly identified as type I or type II based on the magnetic Currently, a major development in the pursuit of HTSCs
fields. Under the application of external magnetic field type, has been found in hydrogen-rich compounds. Between 2014
type I exhibits a single critical field. Fields above the critical and 2015, hydrogen sulfide was found to exhibit supercon-
field destroy the material’s superconducting state, whereas ductivity at a transition temperature of 80 K under an extreme
the application of fields below the critical fields leads to total amount of pressure (approximately 150 gigapascals) [20].
expulsion of the magnetic field from the SC. In type II SC, Furthermore, in 2019, it was discovered that lanthanum
two critical fields are present, thus allowing incomplete pen- hydride (LaH) exhibits superconductivity at 250 K under
etration of the magnetic field through some isolated points extreme pressure of 170 gigapascals [21]. Most recently, in
that are referred to as vortices [6]. There are two types of a paper published in nature in 2020, superconductivity was
SCs when classification is based on the underlying theory found at room temperature from a material made from hydro-
of operation. Materials whose superconducting property can gen, carbon, and sulfur under a pressure of 270 gigapascals
be explained based on Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) or [22]. Although, the first part of the puzzle appears to have
related theories are referred to as conventional, whereas been solved, which is the achievement of room temperature
those whose superconducting behavior cannot be explained transition temperature. However, the pressure under which
are termed unconventional superconductors [5, 7]. this was achieved is highly prohibitive [23]. The historical
Several review articles have been published detailing the milestone in superconductivity research presented so far is
theories of superconductivities [8–11]. Also, SCs are clas- well documented in excellent reviews and thousands of origi-
sified based on the materials. In this case, several classes of nal research articles in superconductivity [7, 10, 11, 24].
SCs have been identified. The most common classes include The main aim of the present study is to conduct a sci-
elemental, alloys, ceramics, and superconducting pnictides entometric study or bibliometric analysis on the subject of
[12]. These SCs have some common properties, such as zero superconductivity. Some notable studies on the sciento-
resistance and Meissner effects. However, they may differ metric analysis of superconductivity have been conducted
in other parameters such as critical magnetic field, critical recently. The earliest study on the scientometric study of
current density, critical temperature, and the values of the superconductivity was conducted as early back as 1985.
superconducting gap [6]. The study focused exclusively on the superconductivity
The holy grail in superconductivity is the search for high- research index in physics published by Israeli researchers.
temperature SCs. In particular, achieving room temperature The research surveyed papers published between 1971 and
superconductivity is the ultimate research goal needed to fully 1982. They established the most prolific institutions, authors,
take advantage of the practical application of superconductors and journal publications for superconductivity research [25].
in everyday operation [13]. The journey to high-temperature Two other studies on the scientometric analysis of supercon-
superconductivity (HTSC) has been in different phases. Bednorz ductivity were focused on India’s productivity [26]. A more
and Muller discovered the earliest study on HTSC in lantha- comprehensive study on scientometric studies on supercon-
num barium copper oxide (LBCO), a lanthanum-based cuprate ductivity was conducted by Gonzalez et al. which covers
perovskite material, in 1988 [14]. The critical temperature ( TC) between 1980 and 2019 and their work focused on research
13
Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
output in South America. Their research uncovers that Bra- were discussed. Furthermore, the most important author
zil led other South American countries in superconductiv- keywords on superconductivity are retrieved, and the major
ity research. Argentina, Columbia, and Venezuela are other research theme in superconductivity is uncovered in this
prominent countries in superconductivity research within work. Given the importance of the objectives mentioned
South America [27]. in the progress of superconductivity research, the authors
In this contribution, we conducted a more comprehen- believe the work will assist researchers working on super-
sive bibliometric-based study on superconductivity, covering conductivity and also aid funding organizations in making
research conducted since the discovery of superconductiv- critical decisions.
ity to date. This work builds on the earlier studies that were
focused on specific countries such as Israel, India, and South
America. The present study is global in scope. Specifically,
over nine decades of literature on superconductivity research 2 Research Methodology
were surveyed. In addition, key bibliometric indicators such
as highly relevant journals, organizations, authors, author- Bibliometrics is a popular research method in information
ship pattern, productive subject area, most influential funding science. It provides a quantitative overview and overall
agencies, and most productive countries on superconductivity framework of topics, fields, or subjects [28]. This method is
13
Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
25000 500000
467617
450000
20192429409
19704
20000 18904 400000
377892
350000
15000 300000
Total Papers
Total Citaons
250000
234856
10000 200000
7735
7020 150000
Fig. 2 Decades of research growth and citation trend on superconductivity research between 1929 and 2021
also known as the science mapping method, representing the Table 1 Top 24 productive countries in superconductivity publica-
relationship between disciplines, domains, specialties, docu- tions
ments, and authors [28–30]. This bibliometric study aims Rank Country TP TC TC/TP
to assess the global research output on superconductivity.
This study uses bibliometric indices such as prolific authors, 1 USA 19587 738984 37.73
literature growth, productive institution, collaborative coun- 2 Japan 15923 347488 21.82
try, research trends, funding agencies, and mapping research 3 Peoples R China 9743 152487 15.65
themes. The required data for this study were retrieved from 4 Germany 6402 166221 25.96
the Web of Science (WoS) database. The WoS is the widely 5 France 4815 128617 26.71
used indexing and abstracting database, delivering the most 6 Russia 4657 77831 16.71
acceptable publication and citation data for trustworthy 7 England 3571 85992 24.08
exploration, access, and assessment. The 50 years of con- 8 India 3001 31566 10.52
sistent, accurate, and comprehensive indexing have resulted 9 Switzerland 2930 98341 33.56
in an unrivaled data structure, providing a comprehensive 10 Italy 2817 47391 16.82
and reliable perspective of more than 115 years of top-tier 11 South Korea 2204 23772 10.79
research. Hence, the authors consider the WoS for this study. 12 Canada 1833 54881 29.94
The search query ran on 2 8th March 2022, at KFUPM, Dhah- 13 Poland 1831 23923 13.07
ran, Saudi Arabia. A total of 79,061 research papers were 14 Netherlands 1617 54056 33.43
found by using the search query below. The following search 15 Spain 1327 27007 20.35
strategy was used to retrieve bibliographic data using the 16 Taiwan 1241 15473 12.47
following attributes. 17 Ukraine 1049 10641 10.14
18 Israel 1046 23986 22.93
• TI = (“superconductivity” OR “Superconductor” OR 19 Brazil 1039 10023 9.65
“Superconducting”). 20 Sweden 979 18379 18.77
• Refined by: DOCUMENT TYPES: (ARTICLE) AND 21 Australia 970 16946 17.47
LANGUAGES: (ENGLISH) AND [excluding] PUBLI- 22 Belgium 962 20592 21.41
CATION YEARS: (2022). 23 Turkey 603 5493 9.11
• Timespan: All years (1929–2022). 24 Finland 577 9839 17.05
• Indexes: SCI-EXPANDED, SSCI, A&HCI, CPCI-S, TP total publication, TC total citation, TC/TP average citation per
CPCI-SSH, ESCI, CCR-EXPANDED, IC. publication
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Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
Exclusion criteria were applied in the initial search results in 1929 to 2448 papers in 2021. The top five most productive
of 102,087 documents. A total of 23,026 papers have been years in research publications include 2021, 2019, 1994, 2020,
excluded by applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. and 1991 with the following total publications: 2448, 2302,
Finally, 79,061 research papers have been selected for final 2292, 2270, and 2267, respectively. The years where there is a
analysis, which was done with the aid of bibliometric analy- significant increase in the number of publications coincide with
sis software such as VOSviewer, Biblioshiny, and Microsoft the period of major discoveries. For example, between 1993
Excel, as shown in Fig. 1. and 1994, a new set of HTSCs (TC = 133–138 K) was found in
a ceramic material that comprises mercury, barium, calcium,
copper, and oxygen (HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8 + δ). This is very much
3 Result and Discussion expected in the research community because major discoveries
generated increased interest in the field. Figure 2 shows nine dec-
Following the methodology described above, the analysis ades of research productivity in superconductivity categorized
shows that 102,783 authors produced 79,061 publications by decades. From 1929, there was a steady increase in research
with 1,731,964 citations. A total of 56,8817 references, 2294 productivity for the first five decades. However, a sudden increase
Sources, and 43,562 author keywords contributed to 79,061 of about 155% increment was witnessed in research productiv-
documents. The average number of citations per document ity from 1979–1988 to 1989–1998. This productivity level was
was 21.9. A single author-produced 8278 papers, while maintained for the next two decades, as shown in Fig. 2. The
multi- authors contributed 70,783 articles. The research citation trends over the decades follow the paper productivity
paper per author was 1.36, while the collaboration index on pattern. The first five years with the highest citations are in year
SC was 1.42. The result and analysis are given in the below 2008, 1988, 1987, 2001, and 2009, with the following citation
sections according to the research objectives. counts: 87,556, 71,411, 70,455, 66,181, and 55,699, respectively.
Yearly research growth on superconductivity between 1929 and Table 1 shows the top 24 most productive countries in supercon-
2021 has been reviewed, as shown in the Appendix A. The pub- ductivity research. The USA emerged as the most prolific coun-
lished works on superconductivity started in 1929; three papers try with 19,587 publications and 738,984 citations, followed by
were published in that year. The literature grew from 3 papers Japan with 15,923 publications and 347,488 citations, China with
Table 2 Top 20 most relevant source on superconductivity between 1929 and 2021
Rank Source name TP TC TC/TP JIF Q Country
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Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
Table 3 Top 50 most prolific authors of superconductivity research between 1929 and 2021
Rank Author TP TC TC/TP Organization Country
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Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
4 2 2 2
34
20
34
9,743 publications and 152,487 citations, Germany with 6402 publications, followed by IEEE Transactions on Applied
publications and 166,211 citations, and France is the 5 th largest Superconductivity with 5247 publications, Physica C Super-
contributor in the field with 4815 publications and 128,617 cita- conductivity, and Its Applications with 4107 publications,
tions. Turkey and Finland had the least productivity among the Physical Review Letters with 3135 publications, and Super-
top 24 most productive countries in the world, with a value of 603 conductor Science Technology with 2684 publications. The
and 577, respectively. Table 1 also reflects the average citation table also reveals that 13-journal produced more than 1000
per publication (TC/TP) among the top 24 productive nations. publications in the listed sources. Journal of Superconductiv-
The USA, Switzerland, and the Netherlands received the highest ity and Novel Magnetism ranked 13th among the most con-
average citation per publication with a value of 37.73, 33.56, and tributed and relevant sources on superconductivity research.
33.43, respectively. In terms of citation counts, Physical Review B, Physical
Review Letters, Physica C Superconductivity & its Applica-
3.3 Most Relevant Sources tions, Applied Physics Letters, and Physical Review are the
top 5 publishing sources with the highest citation counts,
Table 2 describes the top 20 journals that published most which are 329,066, 296,583, 92,067, 73,483 and 57, 314 cita-
of the research. Physical Review B contributed the highest tions, respectively. Eleven out of the 20 journals are hosted
number of publications in superconductivity with 10,089 in the USA, 4 in the UK, 4 in Netherlands, and 1 in Japan.
8000 150000
6000
100000
4000
50000
2000
0 0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53
Authorship Paern
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California San Diego (44.71 TC/TP), Argonne National 3.9 Visualizing Co‑occurrence of Author Keywords
Laboratory (44.40 TC/TP).
Figure 6 represents the author’s keywords co-occurrence
3.7 Subject Domains Connected in superconductivity research. A minimum of 40 times co-
to Superconductivity occurrence of author keywords were included; out of the
102,784 author keywords, 90 keywords met the thresholds.
Table 5 analyzes the top 20 most important subject areas The keywords with the greatest total links strength have been
that are relevant or affiliated with superconductivity. The considered for the visualization. The top ten most appeared
table shows that physics researchers contributed the most author keywords are superconductivity, superconductors,
to superconductivity research with 67,493 publications superconductor, superconducting, MgB2, critical current den-
(85.37%), followed by materials science with 17,170 publi- sity, thin films, critical current, YBCO, and magnetization
cations (21.72%), then engineering with 10,040 publications with 3232, 1150, 880, 462, 400, 356, 316, 310, 232, and 226
(12.70%), and chemistry with 3736 (4.73%). times of co-occurrence, respectively. The author keywords
with the least co-occurrence among the top 90 author key-
3.8 Most Influential Funding Agencies words are high-temperature superconductor, single crystal,
and electrical resistivity with 82 each.
Table 6 represents the top 20 most influential funding agen- The selected 90 author keywords are classified into 6
cies in superconductivity research between 1929 and 2021. clusters, and the association between the clusters can be
The table shows that the National Natural Science Founda- explained using quantitative network indicators.
tion of China has the highest number of publications in super- Cluster # 1 includes 29 author keywords (superconduc-
conductivity with 4805 publications (6.08%), followed by tor, superconducting, critical current density, critical current,
the United States Department of Energy with 2783 (3.52%), YBCO, high-temperature superconductors, superconducting
Ministry of Education Culture Sports Science and Technol- magnets Stability, superconducting magnet, thin-film, AC
ogy Japan with 2649 (3.35%), National Science Foundation, losses, AC loss, high-TC superconductor, squid, quench, pin-
USA with 2172 (2.75%), and Japan Society for The Promo- ning, microstructure, critical temperature, high-temperature
tion of Science with 2153 publications (2.72%). superconductor, fault current limiter, magnetic field, super-
Table 6 Top 20 list of funding agencies in superconductivity research and their research productivity
Rank Funding agencies Country TP % of 79,061
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Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
conducting cables, Josephson junction, Bi-2223, Bi-2212 Cluster #5 also includes 11 author keywords (thin films,
superconducting cable, HTS, Nb3Sn, and high-temperature high-TC, proximity effect, Pseudogap, cuprates, Andreev
superconductor). reflection, superconducting films, superconducting devices,
Cluster # 2 comprises 16 author keywords: M gB2, mag- high-temperature, superconductivity, Josephson effect, and
netization, flux pinning, organic superconductor, phase dia- tunneling).
gram, ac susceptibility, anisotropy, critical, upper critical Cluster #6 includes eight keywords such as high pressure,
field, high-TC superconductivity, transition, critical cur- structure, resistivity, susceptibility synthesis, high-TC super-
rents, penetration depth, mixed state, temperature, and sin- conductor, magnetic susceptibility, and electrical resistivity.
gle crystal.
Cluster # 3 represent 14 author keywords (superconduc- 3.10 Theme Analysis Through Bibliographic
tivity, specific heat, NMR, magnetism, S r2RuO4, heavy fer- Coupling of Documents
mion, antiferromagnetism, ferromagnetism, hubbard model,
nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR), unconventional super- Bibliographic coupling is employed to reveal the major themes
conductivity, electronic structure, pressure, and thermal (Cluster) of superconductivity research. Out of 79,061 publi-
conductivity). cations, the total strength of the bibliographic coupling links
Cluster #4 includes 12 author keywords superconductors, with the other documents has been calculated. Two thousand
high-TC superconductors, x-ray diffraction, organic super- documents with the greatest total link strength have been
conductors, oxides, magnetic, phase transitions, magnetic considered to generate the themes. VOsviewer bibliographic
properties crystal structure, properties, chemical synthesis, software was used to generate bibliographic coupling on 2000
and crystal growth. papers of superconductivity. The largest set of connected
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Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
superconductivity papers consisting of 2000 papers, resulted 43.95. The most cited research paper in this Cluster is “Boson
in 3 clusters, 1,113,430 links, and 2,506,326 total link strength. localization and correlated pinning of superconducting vortex
The major clusters (themes) were explained based on the num- arrays” by Nelson and Vinokur [36], followed by “supercon-
ber of papers and total citations, as shown in Table 7. The ductivity and heavy fermion behavior in PrOs4Sb12” by Bauer
major clusters are briefly discussed below. et al. [37] and “ superconducting persistent-current qubit” by
Cluster # 1: superconductivity, magnetism, heavy fermion, Orlando [38].
unconventional superconductivity, electronic structure, and Cluster # 3: MgB2, anisotropy, magnetization, flux pinning.
high pressure. This cluster contains 289 papers that have been cited a
This cluster comprises the largest number of supercon- maximum number of times with 13,540 TC. The average
ductivity papers, with 898 publications and 47,426 citations. citation per publication for this Cluster is 46.85. The most
The average citation per publication for this Cluster is 52.81. cited publication in the Cluster is “magnetically mediated
The most cited article in this Cluster is “A New High-Tc superconductivity in heavy fermion compounds” by Mathur
Oxide Superconductor without a Rare Earth Element” by et al. [41], followed by” superconductivity on the border of
Maeda et al. (1988) with 2881 TC, followed by “theory of itinerant-electron ferromagnetism in UGe2″ By Saxena et al.
high-Tc superconductivity in oxides” by Emery [32] with [42] and “temperature and purity dependence of supercon-
1979 TC and “bulk superconductivity at 91 K in single- ducting critical field Hc2″ by Helfand et al. [43].
phase oxygen-deficient perovskite B a2YCu309-delta” by Cava
et al. [33] with 1512 TC. 3.11 Most Cited Research Papers
Cluster # 2: superconductivity, YBCO, thin films, critical on Superconductivity
current.
The cluster contains 813 articles that have been cited Table 8 analyzes the top 20 most cited research papers in super-
35,728 times, with an average citation per publication of conductivity. The table shows that the range of citations among
Cluster # 1: superconductivity, 898 47426 1 A new high-TC oxide superconductor without 2881 TC [31]
high temperature, magnetism, a rare-earth element
unconventional superconductivity, 2 Theory of high-TC superconductivity in oxides 1979 TC [32]
electronic structure, and high
3 Bulk superconductivity at 91-k in single-phase 1512 TC [33]
pressure
oxygen-deficient perovskite B a2YCu3O9-delta
4 Superconductivity in the Bi-Sr-Cu–O system 1027 TC [34]
5 Type-II-superconductor strip with current in a 975 TC [35]
perpendicular magnetic field
Cluster # 2: Superconductivity, 813 35728 1 Boson localization and correlated pinning of 911 TC [36]
YBCO, thin films, critical current superconducting vortex arrays
2 Superconductivity and heavy fermion behavior 619 TC [37]
in PrOS4Sb12
3 Superconducting persistent-current qubit 559 TC [38]
4 Angular position of nodes in the 508 TC [39]
superconducting gap of quasi-2d heavy-
fermion superconductor C eCoIn5
5 Superconductivity in the fullerenes 497 TC [40]
gB2 anisotropy,
Cluster # 3: M 289 13540 1 Magnetically mediated superconductivity in 1417 TC [41]
magnetization, flux pinning heavy fermion compounds
2 Superconductivity on the border of itinerant- 1294 TC [42]
electron ferromagnetism in UGe2
3 Temperature and purity dependence of 812 TC [43]
superconducting critical field Hc2.II
4 Model for an exciton mechanism of 401 TC [44]
superconductivity
5 Superconducting properties of high-purity 375 TC [45]
niobium
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Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
the top most cited papers falls between 10,902 and 2157. The top 3.12 Country Collaboration Map
five most cited papers are “possible high TC superconductivity
in the Ba − La − Cu − O system,” “Theory of Superconductiv- Figure 7 represents the top 20 global countries collabo-
ity,” “Iron-Based Layered Superconductor La[O(1-x)Fx]FeAs rating on superconductivity research. The analysis reveals
(x = 0.05 − 0.12) with Tc = 26 K,” “The Resonating Valence that the highest collaborations exist between the USA and
Bond State in La2CuO4 and Superconductivity,” and “Super- China, with a publication of 1464. The other top 4 collabo-
conductivity at 93 K in a new mixed-phase Y-Ba-Cu–O com- rating countries are USA-Japan, USA-Germany, Germany-
pound system at ambient pressure.” In terms of total citations Russian, and China-Japan, with 1119, 1079, 779, and 570,
per year (TC/year), which is a good indicator of research impact, respectively. The USA and South Korea are the least col-
the research titled “Unconventional superconductivity in magic- laborative countries among the top 20 list with 213 publi-
angle graphene superlattices” has the highest TC/year of 561.0. cations. The results show that superconductivity research
1 10902 Possible high TC superconductivity in the Bednorz JG 1986 Z PHYS B-CONDENS MAT 294.65
Ba − La − Cu − O system
2 9064 Theory of Superconductivity Bardeen J 1957 PHYSICAL REVIEW 137.33
3 6577 Iron-Based Layered Superconductor La[O1-xFx]FeAs Kamihara Y 2008 J AM CHEM SOC 438.47
(x = 0.05 − 0.12) with Tc = 26 K
4 6547 The Resonating Valence Bond State in L a2CuO4 and Anderson PW 1987 SCIENCE 181.86
Superconductivity
5 5531 Superconductivity at 93 K in a new mixed-phase Wu MK 1987 PHYS REV LETT 153.64
Y-Ba-Cu–O compound system at ambient pressure
6 5219 Superconductivity at 39 K in magnesium diboride Nagamatsu J 2001 NATURE 237.23
7 4598 Dynamical Model of Elementary Particles Based on Nambu Y 1961 PHYS REV-a 74.16
an Analogy with Superconductivity. I
8 3322 Superconducting Proximity Effect and Majorana Fu L 2008 PHYS REV LETT 221.47
Fermions at the Surface of a Topological Insulator
9 2881 A New High-Tc Oxide Superconductor without a Maeda H 1988 JPN J APPL PHYS PART 2—LETT-a 82.31
Rare Earth Element
10 2851 Signatures of Majorana Fermions in Hybrid Mourik V 2012 SCIENCE 259.18
Superconductor-Semiconductor Nanowire Devices
11 2805 Unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle Cao Y 2018 NATURE 561.00
graphene superlattices
12 2764 Strong coupling of a single photon to a Wallraff A 2004 NATURE 145.47
superconducting qubit using circuit quantum
electrodynamics
13 2730 Superconductivity at 18 K in potassium-doped C60 Hebard AF 1991 NATURE 85.31
14 2507 Superconductivity at 38 K in the Iron Rotter M 2008 PHYS REV LETT 167.13
Arsenide (Ba1 − xKx)Fe2As2
15 2420 Temperature and Purity Dependence of the Werthame NR 1966 PHYSICAL REVIEW-a 42.46
Superconducting Critical Field, Hc2. III. Electron
Spin and Spin–Orbit Effects
16 2420 Superconductivity in a Strong Spin-Exchange Field Fulde P 1964 PHYS REV 41.02
17 2331 Dynamical Model of Elementary Particles Based on Nambu Y 1961 PHYS REV 37.60
an Analogy with Superconductivity. II
18 2315 Superconductivity in the PbO-type structure α-FeSe Hsu FC 2008 PROC NATL ACAD SCI U S A 154.33
19 2254 Majorana Fermions and a Topological Phase Lutchyn RM 2010 PHYS REV LETT 173.38
Transition in Semiconductor-Superconductor
Heterostructures
20 2157 Unconventional Superconductivity with a Sign Mazin II 2008 PHYS REV LETT 143.80
Reversal in the Order Parameter of L
aFeAsO(1−x)Fx
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Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism
is produced by wide international collaboration, especially annual research growth in superconductivity research; this
in North American, European and Asian countries. The attests to the technological importance of superconductivity in
research revealed that superconductivity research produc- today’s society. Analysis of the research productivity revealed
tivity is strongly linked to the technological advancement of that the top producing countries include the USA, Japan, China,
nations and research funding; hence, it is not surprising that Germany, and France with the following number of publica-
no developing countries are featured in the top 20 countries tions 19,587, 15,923, 9743, 6402, and 4815, respectively. In
in the chart. terms of total citation per total publication (TC/TP), the top 5
countries are listed in decreasing order as follows: USA (37.73
TC/TP), Switzerland (33.56 TC/TP), Netherlands (33.43 TC/
TP), Canada (29.94 TC/TP), and France (26.71 TC/TP). Mean-
4 Conclusion while, the top 5 productive institutions include the United States
Department of Energy, Chinese Academy of Science, Russian
This study presents a robust scientometric review of supercon- Academy of Science, Centre National De La Recherche Scien-
ductivity research from the Web of Science database. A total of tifique, and the University of California system, with the total
79,061 publications were examined to probe the following ger- publication of 5878, 4171, 3543, 2889 and 2548, respectively.
mane questions: annual research growth, most productive coun- Finally, the study shows that among the top collaborating coun-
tries, and organizations, authorship patterns, most cited papers, tries on superconductivity research, China and the USA have
country collaboration, etc. The study highlights consistent the highest collaboration with about 1464 total papers.
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