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High-temperature Superconductor




The term High-temperature superconductor was initially employed to designate the new family of Cuprate - Perovskite Ceramic materials discovered by J.G. Bednorz and K.A. Müller in 1986 . These materials are characterized by presenting superconductivity at a higher temperature than Conventional Superconductor s (which require temperatures a few degrees above Absolute Zero (−273.15  °C or −459.67  °F )), and by other Unconventional features. So-called high-temperature superconductors are generally considered to be those that demonstrate superconductivity at or above the temperature of Liquid Nitrogen , or −196 ° C (77 K ).

Recently, other Unconventional Superconductor s have been discovered. Some of them also have unusually high values of the critical temperature Tc, and hence they are sometimes also called high-temperature superconductors, although the record is still held by a Cuprate Perovskite material (Tc=138 K, that is −135 °C). Nevertheless it is widely believed that if Room Temperature Superconductivity is ever achieved it will be in a different family of materials.

Despite its name, high-temperature Superconductivity still occurs at Cryogenic temperatures. The main difference from ''low-temperature superconductivity'' is usually that 'high-Tc' superconductors can use liquid Nitrogen (at 77 K ) as a coolant.

Most prominent materials in the high-Tc range are the so-called Cuprate s, such as La1.85Ba0.15CuO4, YBCO ( Yttrium - Barium - Copper - Oxide ) and related substances.

All known high-Tc superconductors are so-called Type-II Superconductor s.
A Type-II superconductor allows Magnetic Field to penerate its interior
in the units of flux quanta, creating 'holes' (or tubes)
of normal metallic regions in the superconducting bulk.
This property makes high-Tc superconductors capable of sustaining
much higher magnetic fields.


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