Friday, February 27, 2009

What is a type II superconductor? Give some examples.

Superconductors are materials that lose all resistance to electricity flow below a certain critical temperature. The superconductors of pure metals are known as Type I superconductors. Some examples of type I semiconductors are Uranium Osmium, Cadmium, Gallium, Aluminum, etc. Semiconductors can also be made out of alloys of two or more metals. This provides for better mechanical properties as compared to pure metals. Another advantage of semiconductors made out of alloys is the retention of superconductivity at much higher critical magnetic fields and higher temperatures, as compared to type I superconductors. Such superconductors, which are made out of alloys, are known as type II superconductors. Some examples of such superconductors are Niobium-Titanium (NbTi), Vanadium-Silicon (V3Si), Niobium-aluminum (Nb3Al), etc. Type II superconductors are much better than type I superconductors for a number of applications. One such example is the construction of high field superconducting magnets. 


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