superkonduktiivsed

Superconductivity is a phenomenon occurring in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. This results in the material being able to conduct direct current with no power loss. The temperature at which a material exhibits superconductivity is known as its critical temperature, Tc. Below this temperature, the material becomes superconducting.

Superconductivity was first observed in 1911 by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, who discovered that the electrical resistance of mercury dropped to zero at temperatures near absolute zero. Since then, many materials have been discovered to exhibit superconductivity, including conventional superconductors like elemental metals and alloys, and unconventional superconductors like high-temperature superconductors and heavy-fermion superconductors.

The underlying mechanism of superconductivity is still not fully understood, but it is generally believed to involve the formation of Cooper pairs, which are bound states of two electrons. These pairs can move through the material without resistance, leading to the observed superconducting behavior.

Superconductivity has numerous potential applications, including power transmission, magnetic levitation, and quantum computing. However, the practical use of superconductors is limited by the fact that most superconducting materials have very low critical temperatures, requiring expensive cooling systems to maintain superconductivity. Research is ongoing to discover new superconducting materials with higher critical temperatures, which could revolutionize various technologies.