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[Home](https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/CH/en)[Solid State Synthesis](https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/CH/en/applications/materials-science-and-engineering/solid-state-synthesis)Magnetic Materials: Superconductors
# Magnetic Materials: Superconductors
## Superconductors
Superconductors are materials that exhibit no electrical resistance below a temperature defined as the critical temperature (*TC*). Before 1986, the highest *TC* reported was 20 K for Nb3Ge and Nb3Sn.5 In 1986-87, a group lead by Johannes Bednorz and Karl Müller reported the ceramic oxides La2-xBaxCuO4-x and YBa2Cu3O7 (Product No. [328626](https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/CH/en/product/aldrich/328626)) superconduct above the boiling point of nitrogen (77 K).6,7 Materials whose *TC* is greater than the boiling point of nitrogen (a common, readily available, cryogenic coolant) are referred to as high-temperature superconductors (HTS). For their work Bednorz and Müller were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1987.8
Other more exotic compounds such as fullerides have also exhibited superconducting properties. Fullerides of the formula Ax@C60 (A = K, Rb, Cs) are reported to have superconducting character.9 Although superconductive compounds have been known for nearly a century, the common compound magnesium boride was relatively recently demonstrated to exhibit superconductivities. Magnesium boride, MgB2 (Product No. [553913](https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/CH/en/product/aldrich/553913)) is not only superconductive but its critical temperature is surprisingly high for a simple ceramic material (Tc = 39 K).10 __Figure 1__ shows an image of a MgB2 wire segment with a tungsten boride core. The wire is formed by reaction of magnesium vapor with a boron filament. The grain structure in this image is visible under polarized light.11 See __Table 1__ for a comparison of some critical temperatures.
__Figure 1.__ The cross section of a MgB2 wire segment. (Image courtesy of D.K. Finnemore, S.L. Bud'ko, P.C. Canfield, Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University.)
| | | | |
|----------------------|----------|-------------------------------|----------|
| Compound or Element | T*C* (K) | Compound or Element | T*C* (K) |
| Mercury | 4 | Nb3Sn | 18 |
| Vanadium | 5.4 | Nb3Ge | 23 |
| Lead | 7.2 | Ba0.6K0.4BiO3 | 30 |
| Technetium | 7.8 | Cs2Rb@C60 | 33 |
| Niobium | 9.5 | MgB2 | 39 |
| Sulfur (at 93 Gpa) | 10 | La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 | 40 |
| (CH3CH2)2Cu(NCS)2 | 11.4 | Tl2Ba2CuO6 | 80 |
| LiTi2O4 | 12 | YBa2Cu3O7 | 93 |
| BaPb0.75Bi0.25O3 | 13 | Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8 | 105 |
| YNi2B2C | 15.5 | BiScCO (BiSr2Ca3Cu3O10) | 110 |
| NbN | 16 | Tl2Ba2Ca3Cu4O12 | 115 |
| V3Ga | 16.5 | Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 | 125 |
| Sulfur (at 160 Gpa)* | 17 | HgBa2Ca2Cu3O10 | 134 |
| V3Si | 17 | HgBa2Ca2Cu3O10 (at 30 Gpa)\** | 164 |
| Nb3Al | 17.5 | | |
Table 1Critical temperatures of some superconductors.
\*Highest reported Tc for an element \*\*Highest reported TC to date
Superconductivity is governed by critical temperature, critical magnetic field (*HC*) and a critical current density (*JC*). The critical magnetic field refers to an applied magnetic field, such that, if an applied field becomes too large (greater than *HC*) superconductivity will be lost. Critical temperature and critical field are inversely proportional such that just below *TC*, the superconducting state can only be maintained in a very weak applied field, whereas, near 0 K, a larger applied field can be tolerated (__Figure 2__). Similarly, *JC* is the maximum current that can be passed through a superconducting material before it reverts back to a non-superconducting state. This is a critical factor for power applications such as practical superconductor-based electronics would have a *JC* greater than 106 amp·cm-1.
__Figure 2.__Effects of temperature and magnetic field on the superconducting state.
Aside from traditional metals based superconductors and HTS cuprate-based ceramics, more recent work has focused upon molecular and fullerene based superconductors.
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