High-temperature superconductors (HTS) exhibit superconducting properties above the theoretical limit of -452° to -454° Fahrenheit (-269° to -270° Celsius). Copper-based HTS compounds were discovered in 1986, followed by iron and arsenic-based compounds in 2008. Ongoing research aims to engineer better compounds that can operate at room temperature, offering benefits such as reduced energy consumption and faster processing speeds for devices such as maglev trains and quantum computers.
A high-temperature superconductor (HTS) is a material that demonstrates superconducting electrical properties above the liquid state temperature of helium. This temperature range, about -452° to -454° Fahrenheit (-269° to -270° Celsius) was believed to be the theoretical limit for superconductivity. In 1986, however, US researchers Karl Muller and Johannes Bednorz discovered a group of copper-based high-temperature superconducting compounds. These cuprates, such as yttrium barium copper oxide, YBCO7, variations on lanthanum strontium copper oxide, LSCO, and mercury copper oxide, HgCuO, have exhibited superconductivity at temperatures as low as -256° Fahrenheit (- 160° Celsius).
Muller and Bednorz’s discovery led to both researchers being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1987, but the field has continued to evolve. Ongoing study in 2008 yielded a new class of compounds that exhibited superconductivity, based on the elements iron and arsenic, such as iron arsenic and lanthanum oxide, LaOFeAs. It was first demonstrated as a high-temperature superconductor by Hideo Hosono, a materials science researcher in Japan, at a temperature range of -366° Fahrenheit (-221° Celsius). Other rare elements mixed with iron, such as cerium, samarium and neodymium, have created new compounds that have also demonstrated superconducting properties. The 2009 record for a high-temperature superconductor was achieved with a compound composed of thallium, mercury, copper, barium, calcium, strontium and oxygen combined, demonstrating superconductivity at -211° Fahrenheit (-135° Celsius).
The focus of the field of high-temperature superconductor research as of 2011 has been the material science engineering of better compounds. When temperatures of -211° Fahrenheit (-135° Celsius) were reached for superconducting materials, this made it possible to examine their qualities in the presence of liquid nitrogen. Because liquid nitrogen is a common and stable component of many laboratory environments and exists at a temperature of -320° Fahrenheit (-196° Celsius), it has made experimenting with new materials much more practical and widespread.
The benefit of superconducting technology to conventional society still requires materials capable of operating at room temperature. Since superconductors offer literally no resistance to electrical flow, current could flow through the superconducting wire almost indefinitely. This would reduce energy consumption rates for all electrical needs, as well as making such devices ultra-fast compared to standard electronic technology. Powerful magnets would be available for affordable maglev trains, medical applications, and fusion power generation. Additionally, such superconducting technologies could include the development of quantum computers potentially hundreds of millions of times faster at processing data than those existing in 2011.
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