Types of Superconductor Material

There are two types of superconductor materials

  1. Type-1 superconductor
  2. Type-2 superconductor

Type-1 superconductor

  • They are also called as Soft Superconductor.
  • Their critical field and transition temperature are low.
  • They exhibit complete Meissner’s and Silsbee rule.
  • The change of state from normal to superconductivity and vice-versa is abrupt.
  • Examples: Zn, Pb, Hg, Al, In, etc.

Type-2 superconductor

  • They are also called as Hard Superconductor or non-ideal superconductor.
  • They exhibit incomplete Meissner’s effect and Silbee rule.
  • Their critical field and transition temperature are high.
  • The change of state from normal to superconductivity and vice-versa is gradual.
  • This superconductor exhibit incomplete Meissner’s effect in the vortex region.
  • Examples: Nb3Al, NbTi, etc.

Applications

  1. Magnets for nuclear fusion
  2. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
  3. Generators and Motors
  4. Switching elements like “Cryotron“.

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