Unit V

Superconductivity

Engineering Physics

1. Superconductivity
Certain metals and alloys exhibit almost zero resistivity (i.e. infinite conductivity),
when they are cooled to sufficiently low temperatures.

This effect is called

superconductivity. This phenomenon was first of all discovered by H. K. Onnes in 1911

when measuring the electrical conductivity of metals at low temperatures.

20

10

T (K)

Critical or transition temperature

(Or)
Transition temperature
 
The temperature at which the transition from normal state to superconducting state
takes place on cooling in the absence of magnetic field is called critical temperature or
transition temperature.
2. General properties of Superconductors:Properties of superconductors:1. It is a low temperature phenomenon.
2. The transition temperature is different for different substances.
3. Materials having high normal resistivities exhibit superconductivity.
4. Materials for which Z = 106 (where Z is a atomic number and is resistivity) show
superconductivity.
5. For chemically pure and structurally perfect specimen, the superconductivity is very
sharp.
6. Ferro magnetic and Anti ferromagnetic materials are not superconductors.
7. Below the transition temperature the magnetic flux lines are rejected out of the
superconductors.
8. Superconducting elements, in general, lie in the inner columns of the periodic table.
9. Those metallic elements having their valence electrons lies between 2 to 8 exhibit
superconductivity.
10. Below the transition temperature the specific heat curve is discontinuous.

Dr. P.Sreenivasula Reddy

M.Sc, PhD

Website: www.engineeringphysics.weebly.com

Page 1

Unit V

Superconductivity

Engineering Physics

3. The Meissner effect

When a weak magnetic is applied to a superconducting specimen at a
temperature below transition temperature TC the magnetic flux lines are expelled.
This phenomenon is called Meissner effect.

Under normal state the magnetic induction inside the specimen is

B = 0 ( H + I )
Where H is the external applied magnetic field and I is the magnetization produced inside
the specimen.
When the specimen is in superconducting state B = 0 (Meissner effect)
0 = 0 (H + I )

H = I
I
= = 1
H
Thus the material is act as a perfectly diamagnetic (for diamagnetic material = 1 ).
Let us consider a superconducting material is in normal state. From ohms law, the
electric field E = J
On cooling the material to its transition temperature tends to zero. If J is held finite E
must be zero.
From Maxwells equations
dB
E =
dt
dB
Under superconducting condition since E is zero
= 0 or B=constant.
dt
This means that the magnetic flux passing through the specimen should not
change on cooling to the transition temperature. The Meissner effect contradicts the
result.
Or

4. Type I and type II superconductors. Or types of superconductors

Based on the diamagnetic response superconductors can be classified into two
types, they are
1. Type I superconductors
2. Type II superconductors.

Unit V

Superconductivity

Engineering Physics

Type I superconductors
Superconductors which one follows a complete Meissner effect is called type I
superconductors (also is known as soft superconductors).
When the magnetic field strength is gradually increased from its initial value

H < H C , at H C the diamagnetism is abruptly disappear and the transition from

superconducting state to normal state is sharp as shown in figure. These
superconductors are known as soft superconductors
Examples: - Al, Zn, Hg and Sn

Super
conducting
state

Normal
state

Hc

Type II superconductors:Superconductors which does not follow the complete Meissner effect is called type
I superconductors (also is known as hard superconductors).
In type II superconductors, the specimen is in pure superconducting state up to the
field  (lower critical field) when the field is increased beyond  (upper critical state)
the magnetic flux lines start penetrating. The specimen is in mixed state between
 and . Above , the specimen is in normal state. This means that the Meissner
effect is incomplete in the region between  and . This region is known as vertex
region. These superconductors are known as hard superconductors.
Examples: - Zr, Nb

Normal
state

Super
conductin
g state

Vortex
region

H C1

H C2

5. Differences between type I and Type II superconductor

Type I superconductor
Type II superconductor
1. It follows complete Meissner effect.
1. It does not follow the complete Meissner
effect
2. It has two critical field values  and
2. It has single critical field value H C
3. There no mixed state.
3.
4. They are soft superconductors
4.
5. Materials with pure form are type I 5.
superconductors
6. Examples; Zn, Al, Hg and Sn
6.
Dr. P.Sreenivasula Reddy

M.Sc, PhD

There is a mixed state

They are hard superconductors
Materials with impurities or alloys
type II superconductors
Examples: Zr, Nb
Website: www.engineeringphysics.weebly.com
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are

Unit V

Superconductivity

Engineering Physics

5. Penetration depth
According to Londons equations, the magnetic flux does not suddenly drop to zero
at the surface of the type I superconductor, but decreases exponentially.
The penetration of magnetic field through one face of the superconductor is shown in
figure. According to Meissner effect the field inside the superconductor is zero, but in
practice a small portion of field Ho penetrates a small distance into the superconductor.

The penetration of field at a distance x form the face is given by


  /
Where =penetration depth
When x= , then 




The penetration depth is the distance inside the superconductor at which the penetrating
magnetic field is equal to 1/e times of the surface magnetic field H0. Generally ranges
from 10 to 100 nm.
The variationof H w.r.t x is shown in figure.

The penetration depth depends upon the temperature is given by the relation
(0 )
(T ) =
1
T4 2
1 4
TC
Where (0 ) is the penetration depth at T = 0 K

6. Josephson Effect
Let us consider a thin insulation layer is sandwiched between the two superconductors in
addition to normal tunneling of electrons, the super electrons tunnel through the insulation
layer from one superconductor to another with dissociation, even at zero potential
difference across the junction. Their wave functions on both sides are highly correlated.
This is known as Josephson Effect.

Unit V

Superconductivity

Engineering Physics

D.C Josephson effect

According to Josephson when tunneling across through the insulator it introduces
a phase difference 0 between the two parts of the function on opposite sides of the
junction as shown in figure

The tunneling current is given by el

I = I 0 Sin( 0 )
Where I 0 is the maximum current that flows through the junction without any potential
difference across the junction. This effect is called D.C Josephson effect.
A.C Josephson effect
Let a static potential difference is applied across the junction, an additional phase
is introduced by the cooper pairs during tunneling across the junction. This additional
phase change ( ) at any time t can be calculated using quantum mechanics.

Et
h
Where E denotes the total energy of the system. In present case E = 2eV0 . Hence
=

2eV0 t
h
The tunneling current can be written as
=

Unit V

Superconductivity

Engineering Physics

2eV0 t

I = I 0 Sin 0 +

I = I 0 Sin( 0 + t )
2eV0
h
This represents alternating current with angular frequency .
effect.
Current voltage characteristic of a junction is shown in figure.

Where =

This is A.C Josephson

1. When Vo = 0 there is a constant flow of dc current through the junction. This current is
called superconducting current and the effect is called Josephson effect.
2. When Vo < Vc, a constant dc current Ic flows.
3. When Vo > Vc, the junction has finite resistance, and the current oscillates with
some frequency.
Applications of Josephson Effect
1. Josephson effect is used to generate micro waves frequency with =

2eV0
h

2. A.C Josephson effect is used to define standard volt.

3. A.C Josephson effect is used to measure very low temperatures based on the
variation of frequency of the emitted radiation with temperature.
4. A.C Josephson effect is used for switching of signals from one circuit to another.
7. BCS theory
BCS theory of superconductor was put forward by Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer
in 1957 and hence named as BCS theory. This theory could explain the effects such as
zero resistivity, Meissner effect, isotopic effect etc.
Electron lattice interaction via lattice deformation.
Let us consider an electron is passing through the lattice positive ions. The electron is
attracted by the neighboring lattice positive ions as shown in figure 1. Due to the
attraction of electron and ion core, the lattice gets deformed on scale. So electron get
partially positive charge. Now if another electron passes by the side of assembly of said
electron and ion core, it gets attracted towards the assembly.

Unit V

Superconductivity

Engineering Physics

The second electron interacts with the first electron due to the exchange of virtual
photon q, between two electrons. The interaction process can be written in terms the
wave vector k as
k1' = k1 q and k 2' = k1 + q

These two electrons together form a cooper pair and is known as cooper electron.
Cooper pairs
To understand the mechanism of cooper pair formation, let us consider the distribution of
electrons in metals as given by the Fermi-Dirac distribution function. .

F (E ) =

1
1+ e

E EF
kT

At T= 0K, all the Fermi energy states below the Fermi level are completely filled and all
the states above are completely empty. Let us see what happens when two electrons are
added to a metal at absolute zero. Since all the quantum states E < E F , are filled, they
are forced to occupy states having E > E F . Cooper showed that if there an attraction
between the two electrons, they are able to form a bound state so that their total energy is
less than 2 E F . These two electrons are paired to form a single system. These two
electrons form a cooper pair and is known as cooper electron.

8. Flux quantization
According to quantum mechanics matter, energy and charge is quantized.
Similarly the magnetic flux passing the superconducting ring is also quantized.
Consider a superconducting conducting ring in a magnetic field. If the temperature
of the superconductor is greater than its critical temperature, the magnetic flux lines are
passed through it as shown in figure (1).

Unit V

Superconductivity

Engineering Physics

When the super conducting ring temperature cooled less than of it s critical
temperature, it obeys Meissner effect. As a result, persistent current comes into existence
so that H= - M and all the magnetic flux lines are repelled by the superconductor as
shown in figure (2). In this case we observe the flux is only inner of hollow sphere and
outside of ring only.

Even when the applied magnetic field is removed, some magnetic flux is inside the
hollow ring as shown in figure.

The flux inside the ring is given by


 
1,2,3,4,


2
Where h is Plancks constant and e is charge of electron.
Thus the flux passing through the superconducting ring is equal to integral multiple
of




or quantized.

Critical parameters of superconductivity

Effect of magnetic field
Superconductivity of a metal mainly depends on the temperature and strength of
the magnetic field in which the metal is placed. Superconductivity disappears if the
temperature of the specimen is raised above Tc or a strong enough magnetic field is
applied. At temperatures below Tc , in the absence of magnetic field, the material is in
superconducting state. When the strength of the magnetic field is applied to a critical
value H c the superconductivity disappears.
The dependence of critical field upon the temperature is given by
T 2

(
)
(
)
H C T = H C 0 1
TC

()

Unit V

Superconductivity

Engineering Physics

The variation of HC w.r.t. T is shown in figure.

Effect of current
An electric current is passing through the superconducting material it self may gives rise
to necessary magnetic field. For example, when the current is passing a superconducting
ring, it gives rise to its own magnetic field. As the current increases to critical value I c , the
associated magnetic field becomes H C . And the superconductivity disappears.

I C = 2 rH C
Isotopic effect
In superconducting materials the transition temperature varies with the average
isotopic mass of their constituents. The variation is found to be in general form

TC M

= constant
Or TC M
Where is the isotopic effect coefficient and is defined as
ln TC
=
ln M
The value of is approximately 0.5. For example, the average mass varies from 199.5
to 203.4 atomic mass units and accordingly the transition temperature varies from 4.185K
to 4.146K.