Superconducting wire has no electrical resistance at very low temperatures, allowing for higher current density. However, refrigeration is expensive and some superconducting materials are brittle, requiring them to be packaged as powder in a tube. Cooling is necessary to maintain superconductivity, with some materials operating at higher temperatures. Transforming superconductors into wires can be difficult due to brittleness, but compressed powder encased in metal can still be useful.
A superconductive material is one which, below a certain very low temperature, has no electrical resistance. A superconducting wire, therefore, is a length of wire made from superconducting materials. While most wires are made from flexible metals, some of the best superconducting materials are brittle, so they must be packaged as a powder in a tube in order to be used. Superconducting wire is useful because it allows for a higher current density than traditional wires. Just like other superconductors, however, superconducting wire requires very low temperatures to operate, and the refrigeration process can be quite expensive.
High current density is a major consideration in circuit design and is very important in the design of small integrated chips for portable electronic devices. Current density can be simply described as the density of electric charge flowing through a conductive material. Most types of conductors, due to their electrical resistance, release a large amount of heat at particularly high current densities. Superconducting wire, on the other hand, has no electrical resistance, so excess heat release isn’t a problem. Superconducting wire can, however, generate current density levels so high that they generate a magnetic field that can have a deleterious effect on superconductivity.
One of the major challenges in successfully implementing superconducting wires is the need for extremely low temperatures. Superconducting materials lose their superconductivity and begin to have electrical resistance above a certain threshold temperature, so it is essential that materials are kept below that temperature. Many types of superconducting wire must be maintained at temperatures well below 30 Kelvin (-406°F), requiring the use of liquid helium or liquid nitrogen. Some types of superconductors, in a phenomenon known as “high-temperature superconductivity,” can operate at temperatures as low as 125 Kelvin (-235°F). Cooling such superconducting materials, while still not a simple task, is less expensive than managing the extremely low temperatures required by others.
Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to transform many forms of superconductors, especially high-temperature superconductors, into superconducting wires. Many high-temperature superconducting materials are quite brittle, so it is implausible to develop them into typical flexible wires. It is often necessary to fill a tube with a powdered form of the superconducting material. In many cases, the powder is encased in some form of metal, heated, and compressed into a large, flat wire. Such superconducting wire lacks the flexibility of traditional wire, but can still be very useful.
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