Chapter-3: Superconductivity

3.1 Theory of superconductivity

• In 1991 the Dutch physicist,Heike Kamerlingh Onnes,discovered
in his laboratory in Leiden that the dc resistivityof mercury
suddenly drops to zero whenever the sample is cooled below
4.2K. Figure 3.1.He named the new phenomenon-
superconductivity. A year latter,Onnes discovered that a
sufficiently strong magnetic field restores the resistivity in the
sample;so does sufficiently strong electric current. In the years to
follow it was discovered that many other metallic elements
exhibit superconductivity at very low temperature(T<Tc)-Table
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1
3.1
 Cont’d…

In 1933 Meissner and Ochsenfeld discovered another distnict property

of the superconducting state-perfect diamagnetsim.
 They noticed that magnetic flux is expelled from the interior of the
sample that is cooled below the criticlal temperature in weak
external magnetic fields-Figure 3.2.Following the Meissner’s
effect,F.and H. London proposed in 1934 a simple two fluid
model.It explained the Meissner’s effect and penetrated depth
ʎ:this is a characterstics length of penetration of the static magnetic
flux into superconductor.

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 Cont’d…

Figure 3.1 :The resistance of mercury as a function of temperature as observed by

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in 1911.

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 Table 3.1:The critical temperature of some superconductors
 
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  Therefore superconductivity is defined as a phenomenon of
exactly zero electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic fields
occurring in certain materials when cooled below a characteristic
critical temperature,Tc. i.e. No resistivity (ρ=0) & magnetic

Induction (B=0, inside super conductor) , for all T<Tc

 The magnetic inductance becomes zero inside the super conductor
when it is cooled below Tc in a weak external magnetic field :the
magnetic flux is expelled from the interior of the superconductor.
This effect is called Meissner’s effect.

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 3.2. Meissner effect
In 1933, Walter Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld discovered a
magnetic phenomenon that showed that superconductors are not just
perfect conductors. Figure 3.2 highlights this difference. Imagine
that both the ideal conductor and superconductor are above their
critical temperature, Tc That is, they both are in a normal
conducting state and have electrical resistance. A magnetic field, B
or Ba, is then applied. This results in the field penetrating both
materials. Both samples are then cooled so that the ideal conductor
now has zero resistance.

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 Cont’d…

It is found that the superconductor expels the magnetic field from

inside it, while the ideal conductor maintains its interior field. Note
that energy is needed by the superconductor to expel the magnetic
field. This energy comes from the exothermic superconducting
transition. Switching off the field induces currents in the ideal
conductor that prevent changes in the magnetic field inside it – by
Lenz’s law. However, the superconductor returns to its initial state,
i.e. no magnetic field inside or outside it.

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 Figure 3.2:The meissner effect

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 3.3. Important Factors which define
superconducting state
1) Critical temperature (Tc)
• It corresponds to the temperature below which the material
becomes superconducting.
2) critical magnetic field (Hc )
It corresponds to the maximum magnetic field that can be applied to a
superconductor. Above the critical field Hc, the material becomes a normal
metal again. For instance, in mercury, this field is 0.04 Tesla. For some
superconductors, we have to define two critical fields,H c1 and Hc2, because of

the presence of vortices. For example, in a cuprate, H c1 is about 0.01 Tesla,

but Bc2 can be as high as 60 teslas.

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 3) Critical current density (Jc )
It corresponds to the maximum current that can go through a
superconductor. If the current exceeds this value, the material becomes a
normal metal again and starts resisting and heating like any other metal.
More often, physicists use the term “current density” (Jc), that is the current
divided by the cross section of the electric wire. For instance, in a cuprate,
the current density is more than amperes per cm2.
4) The penetration length ( λL)
When a magnetic field is applied to a superconductor, it is expelled and can
only penetrate a short depth of the surface of the sample, measured as the
penetration length. It is usually very small, from 10 to 100 nanometers.

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 4) The gap
The superconductor is characterized by its wave function formed
from the Cooper pairs. This wave function has an energy called
“gap”: it corresponds to the minimum energy needed to break one
of the Cooper pairs.

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 Classification of Superconductor Materials
Depending upon their behavior in an external magnetic field, 
superconductors are divided into two types, type-I &type-II
superconductors.
diamagnetic property of the superconductor
Note: A negative sign is introduced in the
magnetization value to represent the

Figure 3.3: Variation of magnetization (M) with applied magnetic field (H)

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 1) Type I superconductors:
 Type I superconductors are those superconductors which loose their
superconductivity very easily or abruptly when placed in the external
magnetic field. As you can see from the graph- Figure 3.3a, when the Type
I superconductor is placed in the magnetic field, They produce a repulsive
force up to critical field Hc. Therefore it does not allow the magnetic field
to penetrate through it. Hence the material behaves as a superconductor. At
Hc the repulsive force is zero and suddenly looses its superconductivity.
Thus after Hc the materials behave as a normal conductor and allow the
magnetic flux lines to pass through.

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 Cont’d…
 They are also known as soft superconductors because of this
reason they loose their superconductivity easily.
 They perfectly obey Meissner effect.
 There is only one Hc
 Used in coils for superconducting magnets.
 Examples: Aluminum (Hc = 0.0105 Tesla), Zinc (Hc = 0.0054)

2) Type II superconductors:
Type II superconductors are those superconductors which loose their
superconductivity gradually but not easily or abruptly when placed in
the external magnetic field.
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 Cont’d…

 Type II superconductors start to loose their superconductivity

at lower critical magnetic field (Hc1) and completely loose
their superconductivity at upper critical magnetic field (Hc2).
 The state between the lower critical magnetic field (Hc1)
and upper critical magnetic field (Hc2) is known as vortex
state or intermediate state.
• Also known as hard superconductors because of the reason
they loose their superconductivity gradually but not easily.
• They obey Meissner effect but not completely
• Does not behave as a perfect diamagnetic material
• Used for strong field superconducting magnets.
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 3.5. London equation
London’s theory is assumed that there are two types of
conducting electrons in a super conductor, namely the super
electrons and normal electrons. The former are responsible for
normal state and the later for superconducting state. But in a
mixed state both types of charge carriers exists. In this case the
total electron density is given as, no=ns+nn , where, no=total

electron density, ns=superfluid electron density & nn=normal

electron density

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 Cont’d…
 At 0K,a superconductor contains only super electrons,but as
temperature increase superconductor electron decrease and norman
electrons increase.In superconductors only superelectrons give
response to an electric field.Thus when external electric field is
applied super electrons start to flow without encountering to
resistance.

 In1935 Fritz and Heinz proposed that the electrodynamics of

superconducting electrons or super electrons should be explained by
two pairs of equations, London’s 1st and 2nd equations. The first
equation shows how the super electrons accelerate under the
influence of external electric field, while the second explains the
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 3.5.1 Derivation of London equations

From second law of Newton:

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Here Js is the superconducting current density, E and B are respectively
the electric and magnetic fields within the superconductor, e  is the
charge of an electron & proton, m is electron mass, and  ns is a
phenomenological constant loosely associated with a number density of
superconducting carriers.

3.5.2 London penetration depth

As discussed in the Meissner effect that one of the conditions of the
superconducting state is that the magnetic flux cannot penetrate
inside of the superconductor. But experimentally it is not so and the
magnetic flux does not suddenly drop to zero inside the surface.

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 Cont’d…

In fact the magnetic field does penetrate to a shallow depth (500-1000

Ao) at the surface of a body. When it enters into the material its
intensity decreases gradually and becomes zero at certain point. That
distance from the surface is called penetration depth.

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 Figure 3.4: Decaying of magnetic field inside a superconductor
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 Cont’d…

As we can observe from figure 3.4, the magnetic field

exponentially decays to zero inside a superconductor. The
London penetration depth is the distance required for the inside
magnetic field to fall to 1/e times the externally applied field Ba,
as depicted in the graph.

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 3.6. Application of Superconductors
1) Power Transmission
 A significant amount of electrical energy is wasted (10% to 15% of
generated electricity) as heat when electricity is transmitted down cables
made of traditional metal conductors.
 Superconductors, can transmit electrical power with zero resistance over
very long distances without any power loss or any voltage drop therefore
they would be more efficient. 
2) Motors / Generators
It may be possible to build very large capacity generators for power
plants where structural strength considerations place limits on
conventional generators. Superconductors generators has the
benefits small size and low energy consumption than the
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3. Energy Storage (SMES)
 Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) stores
electricity for long periods of time in superconductive coils.
SMES will be used by electrical utilities someday.
4. Current Limiters, Switches, and Fuses
These devices are used to control power flows, especially during short
circuit conditions in the electric power system. Superconducting
versions of these devices generally rely on controlling currents by
switching the conductor from the non-resistive superconducting state to
the normal resistive state

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 Compared with their conventional analogs, these superconducting
components offer the advantage that they introduce no losses into the
system during normal operation, and switching times can be reduced
from 1 to 2 cycles (about 20 milliseconds) to less than 1 millisecond

5.Computers
If computers use superconducting parts they would be much more
faster than the computers today. They would much smaller because
no space for heat would be required. Computers of today need a
great deal of space for cooling.

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 6) Maglev train
Magnetic levitation or magnetic suspension is a method by which an
object is suspended with no support other
than magnetic fields. Magnetic force is used to counteract the effects of
the gravitational acceleration and any other accelerations. These work
because a superconductor repels a magnetic field so a magnet will float
above a superconductor – this virtually eliminates the friction between
the train and the track.
Note that: Maglev is a transport method that uses magnetic
levitation to move vehicles without making contact with the ground.

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