bis project-room temperature superconductors

8/8/2019 Bis Project-Room Temperature Superconductors

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Praxis Business School

A PROJECT

On

ROOM TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORSSubmitted to

DR. Prithwis Mukherjee

In Partial fulfillment of the courseBUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS

On 07/11/2010

By

Subhodeep Kumar Dey (B10033)


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ROOM TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS

SUBHODEEP KUMAR DEY


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PREFACE

Inspite of the fact that it is Natures oversight,superconductivity is a remarkable phenomenon. Personally, I

am fascinated by it. Superconductivity indeed was a major

scientific mystery for a large part of the last century.

The purpose of this book is to show how room temperature

superconductors is capable of unravelling the future

technological marvels. This book covers what are

superconductors, its different types, the research work that hasbeen undergone, the motive behind the idea of introducing

room temperature superconductors, the challenges that are

there and the future potential of the idea which is capable of

initiating a Second World War

It can be rightly inferred that the room temperature

superconductors are the Holy Grail of Modern Science.


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CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Abstract and introduction to room temperature superconductors.

Chapter 2: Research work by the pioneers in this field and the progress

made.

Chapter 3: Research which could lead to a better superconductor or

something that can solve

the mysteries unfolded.

Chapter 4: Motive behind the idea, the challenges faced and the future

potential of the idea

Chapter 5: Polypropylene- a long way to go!

Chapter 6: Conclusion. .


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CHAPTER 1

ABSTRACT

Superconductivity is an electrical resistance of exactly zero which occurs in certain materials below acharacteristic temperature. Gradually as the temperature is lowered the electrical resistivity of a

metallic conductor decreases. However, this decrease in ordinary conductors such as copper and

silver, present some resistance to the flow of electric current, causing some of the energy to be

dissipated as light and heat. A real sample of copper shows some resistance even near absolute

zero. Despite these imperfections, in a superconductor the resistance drops abruptly to zero when the

material is cooled below its critical temperature. By reducing losses superconductors can make

energy production more efficient and computers can be made smaller and more powerful.

Superconductors have ample number of advantages in its pipeline which is yet to be explored.

INTRODUCTION

Before 1985, scientists wanted to produce materials that could superconduct at the temperature of

liquid nitrogen (minus 321 F) which was cheaper than liquid helium and more practical for commercial

applications. Working with niobium alloys, scientists could not get anywhere near the temperature of

liquid nitrogen,

However, in 1986, IBM scientists Georg Bednorz and Alex Muller broke the temperature barrier with a

new class of superconducting materials called layered copper oxide perovskites. For this discovery

Bednorz and Muller shared the Nobel Prize. The materials the IBM scientists used were ceramic

metals. Ceramics previously had been thought to be insulators, or at best poor conductors. Since then

ceramics have been and are being explored thoroughly.

Superconductivity has been observed in several metals and ceramic materials. When these materials

are cooled to temperatures ranging from near absolute zero (-459 degrees Fahrenheit, 0 degrees

Kelvin, -273 degrees Celsius) to liquid nitrogen temperatures (-321 F, 77 K, -196 C), they have no

electrical resistance. The temperature at which electrical resistance is zero is called the critical

temperature (Tc) and varies with the individual material. . For practical purposes, critical temperatures

are achieved by cooling materials with either liquid helium or liquid nitrogen. The following table

shows the critical temperatures of various superconductors:

Material Type Tc (K)

Zinc Metal 0.88

Aluminum Metal 1.19

Tin Metal 3.72

Mercury Metal 4.15

Yttrium barium copper oxide Ceramic 90

Highest Tc we have today is 135K in Hg1223 (HgBa2Ca2Cu3Ox).

As these materials have no electrical resistance, it can be inferred electrons can travel through them

freely, they can carry large amounts of electrical current for long periods of time without losing energy

as heat. Superconducting loops of wire have been shown to carry electrical currents for several years


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with no measurable loss. This property has implications for electrical power transmission, if

transmission lines can be made of superconducting ceramics, and for electrical-storage devices.

A property of a superconductor is that once the transition from the normal state to the

superconducting state occurs, external magnetic fields can't penetrate it. This effect is called the

Meissner effect and has implications for making high speed, magnetically-levitated trains. It also has

implications for making powerful, small, superconducting magnets for magnetic resonance imaging

(MRI).

Another property of superconductors is that when two of them are joined by a thin, insulating layer, it

is easier for the electron pairs to pass from one superconductor to another without resistance (dc

Josephson effect). This effect has implications for superfast electrical switches that can be used to

make small, high-speed computers. .

How do electrons travel through superconductors with no resistance? Let us have a look at this more

closely.

The atomic structure of most metals is a lattice structure, much like a window screen in which the

intersection of each set of perpendicular wires is an atom. Metals hold on to their electrons quite

loosely, so these particles can move freely within the lattice -- this is why metals conduct heat and

electricity very well. As electrons move through a typical metal in the normal state, they collide with

atoms and lose energy in the form of heat. In a superconductor, the electrons travel in pairs and move

quickly between the atoms with less energy loss.

As a negatively-charged electron moves through the space between two rows of positively-charged

atoms (like the wires in a window screen), it pulls inward on the atoms. This distortion attracts a

second electron to move in behind it. This second electron encounters less resistance, much like apassenger car following a truck on the freeway encounters less air resistance. The two electrons form

a weak attraction, travel together in a pair and encounter less resistance overall. The low temperature

facilitates the pairing up of the electrons.

In a superconductor, electron pairs are constantly forming, breaking and reforming, but the overall

effect is that electrons flow with little or no resistance.

Types of superconductors

There are basically two types of superconductors. One is the low temperature superconductors and

the other is the high temperature superconductors. High temperature superconductors are materials

that have a superconducting transition temperature (Tc) above 30 K. From 1960 to 1980 30 K wasthought to be the highest theoretically possible Tc. Low temperature superconductors are materials

Figure showing the Meissner effect


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that have a superconducting transition temperature of just 4 K above absolute zero. They have to be

cooled to this temperature with liquid helium. The high cost and complexity of liquid helium

refrigeration systems tended to confine these low temperature superconductors to a well controlled

laboratory environment.

CHAPTER 2

RESEARCH WORK BY THE PIONEERS IN THIS FIELD AND THE PROGRESS MADE:

It has been predicted that the development of the room temperature superconductor will initiate asecond industrial revolution. It will unravel the technological marvels and change the world we are

living in. To make it a success there has been number of research work going on around the globe.

Here are some of the few.

RESEARCH BY SCIENTISTS AT UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE:

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified a key component to unfold the mystery of

room temperature superconductivity.

The possibility of room temperature super conductors was seen almost two decades ago, since then

the quest for room temperature super conductors has gripped the physics researchers. Unfortunately,

scientists have been unable to decipher how copper oxide materials superconduct at extremely coldtemperatures (such as that of liquid nitrogen), much less design materials that can superconduct at

higher temperatures.

Materials that are known to superconduct at the highest temperatures are, unexpectedly, ceramic

insulators that behave as magnets before 'doping' (the method of introducing impurities to a

semiconductor to modify its electrical properties). Upon doping charge carriers (holes or electrons)

into these parent magnetic insulators, they mysteriously begin to superconduct, i.e. the doped carriers

form pairs that carry electricity without loss.

The dilemma facing researchers in this area has been as to how does a magnet that cannot transport

electricity transform into a superconductor that is a perfect conductor of electricity? The Cambridge

team have made a significant advance in answering this question.


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The researchers have discovered where the charge 'hole' carriers that play a significant role in the

superconductivity originate within the electronic structure of copper-oxide superconductors. These

findings are particularly important for the next step of deciphering the glue that binds the holes

together and determining what enables them to superconduct.

Dr Suchitra E. Sebastian, lead author of the study, commented, An experimental difficulty in the past

has been accessing the underlying microscopics of the system once it begins to superconduct.

Superconductivity throws a manner of 'veil' over the system, hiding its inner workings from

experimental probes. A major advance has been our use of high magnetic fields, which punch holes

through the superconducting shroud, known as vortices - regions where superconductivity is

destroyed, through which the underlying electronic structure can be probed.

We have successfully unearthed for the first time in a high temperature superconductor the location

in the electronic structure where 'pockets' of doped hole carriers aggregate. Our experiments have

thus made an important advance toward understanding how superconducting pairs form out of these

hole pockets.

By determining exactly where the doped holes aggregate in the electronic structure of thesesuperconductors, the researchers have been able to advance clarify two vital areas:

(1) A direct probe revealing the location and size of pockets of holes is an essential step of

determining how these particles stick together to superconduct.

(2) Their experiments have successfully accessed the region between magnetism and

superconductivity: when the superconducting veil is partially lifted, their experiments suggest the

existence of underlying magnetism which shapes the hole pockets. Interplay between magnetism and

superconductivity is therefore indicated - leading to the next question to be addressed.

Do these forms of order compete, with magnetism appearing in the vortex regions where

superconductivity is killed, as they suggest? Or do they complement each other by some moreintricate mechanism? One possibility they suggest for the coexistence of two very different physical

phenomena is that the non-superconducting vortex cores may behave in concert, exhibiting collective

magnetism while the rest of the material superconduct.

RESEARCH BY SCIENTISTS OF UNIVERSITY OF LONDON AND FIBOURG

Scientists from Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) have

found evidence that magnetism is involved in the mechanism behind high temperature

superconductivity. Investigation was done on a new high temperature superconductor called

oxypnictides. They found that these exhibit some striking similarities with the previously known

copper-oxide high temperature superconductors - in both cases superconductivity emerges from a

magnetic state. Their results go some way to explaining the mechanisms behind high temperaturesuperconductors

Superconductors are materials that can conduct electricity with no resistance, but only at low

temperatures. High temperature superconductors were first discovered in 1986 in copper-oxides,

which increased the operational temperature of superconductors by more than 100C, to -130C and

opened up a wealth of applications. The complex fundamental physics behind these high temperature

superconductors has, however, remained a mystery to scientists.

Dr Drew said "Last year, a new class of high-temperature superconductor was discovered that has a

completely different make-up to the ones previously known - containing layers of Arsenic and Iron

instead of layers of Copper and Oxygen. Our hope is that by studying them both together, we may be

able to resolve the underlying physics behind both types of superconductor and design newsuperconducting materials, which may eventually lead to even higher temperature superconductors."


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Professor Bernhard, of the University of Fribourg, said: "Despite the mysteries of high-temperature

superconductivity, their applications are wide-ranging. One exciting applications is using

superconducting wire to provide lossless power transmission from power stations to cities.

Superconducting wire can hold a much higher current density than existing copper wire and is

lossless and therefore energy saving."

An electrical current flowing round a loop of superconducting wire can also continue indefinitely,

producing some of the most powerful electromagnets known to man. These magnets are used in MRI

scanners, to 'float' the MagLev train, and to steer the proton beam of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

at CERN. Envisaged future applications of superconductors exist also in ultrafast electronic devices

and in quantum computing.

2D FLUCTUATING SUPERCONDUCTIVITY IN A HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTOR

Scientists at Brookhaven Lab have discovered a state of two-dimensional (2D) fluctuating

superconductivity in a high-temperature superconductor with a particular arrangement of electrical

charges known as "stripes."The finding was uncovered during studies of directional dependence in

the material's electron-transport and magnetic properties. In the 2D plane, the material acts as asuperconductor - conducts electricity with no resistance - at a significantly higher temperature than in

the 3D state.

"The results provide many insights into the interplay between the stripe order and superconductivity,

which may shed light on the mechanism underlying high-temperature superconductivity," said

Brookhaven physicist Qiang Li.

Credit: Image courtesy of DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory

Understanding the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity is one of the outstanding

scientific issues in condensed matter physics. Understanding this mechanism could lead to new

strategies for increasing the superconducting transition temperature of other superconductors to make

them more practical for applications such as electrical transmission lines. Superconductors can meet

the challenge faced by the national electricity grid to provide reliable power when the demand for

electricity will rise.

A superconductor like the one

shown here conducts electricity

with no resistance


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A STEP IN THE MARCH TOWARDS BETTER SUPERCONDUCTORS

At a seminal meeting in 1987, physicists shocked the scientific community when they reported that

certain ceramics can conduct electricity with no resistance at low temperatures. Since then, scientists

have been dreaming of trains that levitate on magnetic fields, practical electric cars, hyper-efficientpower lines and the other technological marvels that would be made possible by a material that could

similarly superconduct electricity, but at room temperature.

Near the 20-year anniversary of that scientific symposium, called the Woodstock of physics in

contemporary media accounts, a Brigham Young University researcher is part of a team that has

taken science one step closer to this holy grail. Branton Campbell, assistant professor of physics, in

collaboration with the University of Tennessee's Pengcheng Daiand others, has published a paper in

the high-profile journal Nature Materials that explains the behavior of an important class of

superconducting ceramics.

The team took tiny samples of ceramic crystals to what Campbell calls the most powerful X-ray

machine in the world, a billion-dollar facility located at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago,

where he was once a postdoctoral researcher. There they shined a needle-thin X-ray beam onto the

crystals and mapped out the pattern of scattered X-rays to determine the location and type of each

atom in the crystal structure. They also used a similar technique called neutron powder diffraction.

There are two principal types of copper-oxide ceramics that usually dont even conduct electricity at

room temperature, but become superconductors at low temperature. One type behaves quite

differently from the other, which had scientists wondering if two separate physical mechanisms might

be at work. It was a long-standing mystery why so-called electron-doped ceramics cannot

superconduct until after they have been subjected to special high-temperature chemical treatments.

Mr. Campbells team showed that the treatments repair previously unreported atomic-scale defects in

the material. Further, once the defects are repaired, the basic features of the two types of materialsare very similar after all, suggesting that one theory is enough to explain the mechanism of ceramic

superconductivity.

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCHES WHICH COULD LEAD TO A BETTER SUPERCONDUCTOR OR SOMETHING

THAT CAN SOLVE THE MYSTERIES UNFOLDED

CONTROLLING STRUCTURES ON NANOSCALE

Superconductors, materials in which current flows without resistance, have tantalizing applications.

But even the highest-temperature superconductors require extreme cooling before the effect kicks in,so researchers want to know when and how superconductivity comes about in order to coax it into

existence at room temperature. Now a team has shown that, in a copper-based superconductor, tiny

areas of weak superconductivity hold up at higher temperatures when surrounded by regions of

strong superconductivity. The experiment is reported in current issue of Physical Review Letters and

highlighted with a viewpoint in Physics by Jenny Hoffman of Harvard University. Researchers have

long known that both superconducting and normal currents can leak back and forth between adjacent

layers of superconducting material and metal. In copper-based ceramic superconductors, made up of

many different elements, superconductivity varies within nanometres depending on which atoms are

nearby. These tiny regions can influence each other in much the same way that thin layers of metal

and superconductor interact.

Now a collaboration of researchers from Princeton University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, andthe Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry in Japan has used Scanning Tunneling


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Microscopy to investigate for the first time how this happens on the nanoscale. As they warmed a

superconducting sample, they saw that superconductivity died out at different temperatures in regions

just a few nanometres apart. Superconductivity didn't just depend on the characteristics of the local

region, but on what was going on nearby. Regions of stronger superconductivity seemed to help

regions of weaker superconductivity survive at higher temperatures.

Researchers might exploit this interplay by micromanaging a superconductor's structure, so that

regions of strong superconductivity have the maximum benefit to weak regions, potentially resulting in

a new material that's superconducting at a higher overall temperature than is possible with randomly

arranged ceramic superconductors.

AN UNDERSTANDING OF INNER WORKING OF HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTOR

Apart from this - measurements taken at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

may help physicists develop a clearer understanding of high-temperature superconductors, whose

behavior remains in many ways mysterious decades after their discovery. A new copper-based

compound exhibits properties never before seen in a superconductor and could be a step toward

solving part of the mystery.

Copper-based high-temperature superconductors are created by taking a nonconducting material

called a Mott insulator and either adding or removing some electrons from its crystal structure. As the

quantity of electrons is raised or lowered, the material undergoes a gradual transformation to one that,

at certain temperatures, conducts electricity utterly without resistance. Until now, all materials that fit

the bill could only be pushed toward superconductivity either by adding or removing electrons -- but

not both.

However, the new material tested at the NIST Centre for Neutron Research (NCNR) is the first one

ever found that exhibits properties of both of these regimes. A team of researchers from Osaka

University, the University of Virginia, the Japanese Central Research Institute of Electric Power

Industry, Tohoku University and the NIST NCNR used neutron diffraction to explore the novelmaterial, known only by its chemical formula of YLBLCO.

The material can only be made to superconduct by removing electrons. But if electrons are added, it

also exhibits some properties only seen in those materials that superconduct with an electron surplus

-- hinting that scientists may now be able to study the relationship between the two ways of creating

superconductors, an opportunity that was unavailable before this "ambipolar" material was found.

IRON-BASED MATERIALS MAY UNLOCK SUPERCODUCTIVITY'S SECRETS

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are decoding the

mysterious mechanisms behind the high-temperature superconductors that industry hopes will find

wide use in next-generation systems for storing, distributing and using electricity

In two new papers on a recently discovered class of high-temperature superconductors, they report

that the already complicated relationship between magnetism and superconductivity may be more

involved than previously thought, or that a whole new mechanism may drive some types of

superconductors.

At temperatures approaching absolute zero, many materials become superconductors, capable of

carrying vast amounts of electrical current with no resistance. In such low-temperature

superconductors, magnetism is a villain whose appearance shatters the fragile superconductive state.

But in 1986, scientists discovered "high temperature" (HTc) superconductors capable of operating

much warmer than the previous limit of 30 degrees above absolute zero.


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In fact, today's copper-oxide materials are superconductive in liquid nitrogen, a bargain-priced coolant

that goes up to a balmy 77 degrees above absolute zero. Such materials have enabled applications

as diverse as high-speed maglev trains, magnetic-resonance imagers and highly sensitive

astronomical detectors. Still, no one really understands how HTc superconductivity works, although

scientists have long suspected that in this case, magnetism boosts rather than suppresses the effect.

The beginnings of what could be a breakthrough came in early 2008 when Japanese researchers

announced discovery of a new class of iron-based HTc superconductors. In addition to being easier to

shape into wires and otherwise commercialize than today's copper-oxides, such materials provide

scientists fresh new subjects with which to develop and test theories about HTc superconductivity's

origins.

Scientists at NIST's Centre for Neutron Research and a team including researchers from the

University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Maryland,

Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University used beams of neutrons to peek into a superconductor's

atomic structure. They first found iron-based superconductors to be similar to copper-oxide materials

in how "doping" (adding specific elements to insulators in or around a HTc superconductor) influences

their magnetic properties and superconductivity.

Then the team tested the iron-based material without doping it. Under moderate pressure, the volume

of the material's crystal structure compressed an unusually high 5 percent. Intriguingly, it also became

superconductive without a hint of magnetism.

The iron-based material's behavior under pressure may suggest the remarkable possibility of an

entirely different mechanism behind superconductivity than with copper oxide materials, NIST Fellow

Jeffrey Lynn said. Or it could be that magnetism is simply an ancillary part of HTc superconductivity in

general, he saidand that a similar, deeper mechanism underlies the superconductivity in both.

Understanding the origin of the superconductivity will help engineers tailor materials to specific

applications, guide materials scientists in the search for new materials with improved properties and,

scientists hope, usher in higher-temperature superconductor

CHAPTER 4

MOTIVE BEHIND THE IDEA

The temptation which drove thousands of super quality scientists starting from Einthoven to Einstein

to Erlenmeyer is the same in such business leaders with only a single difference that they have an

added dimension in their approach which is to make a commercially viable business endeavour

supporting the service potential to hundreds and millions of human beings. Money is an obvious

reference of exchange and counting unit of the acquired wealth which may keep on reminding suchmaterialistic minds about their further challenges and volume of achievement.

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE ROOM TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS

Superconductors wont superconduct at normal temperatures, they have to be chilled far below zero

in order to work. This makes them difficult and expensive to build and operate and restricts what can

be done with them

Highly reliable, conservative designs are necessary, especially in the commercial sector

Even after a superconducting material with adequate properties is developed , it takes many years to

develop a practical conductor from the material and to demonstrate its viability in a commercialprototype


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Even the discovery of room temperature superconductors would not substantially improve the

prospects for magnetically levitated transport systems in the United States because the costs of such

systems are dominated by costs of land acquisition and guideway construction.

FUTURE POTENTIALOF THE IDEA:

Room temperature super conductor would be of great help if it comes into being. It would have a

great commercial advantage and would be highly beneficial. Resources are scarce hence optimum

utilisation of available resources is quite necessary. Electricity is scarce, hence this room temperature

superconductor will be of a great advantage. . Again it will pave the way for energy efficiency and

energy sustainability as it has almost zero energy loss mechanism. As a result the world would have

less atmospheric pollution and hence more environment friendly.

No energy loss would be a remarkable achievement. If a material could carry current with no

resistance at room temperature, no energy would be lost as heat, meaning faster, lower-power

electronics. And electricity could be carried long distances with 100 per cent efficiency.

One exciting applications is using superconducting wire to provide lossless power transmission from

power stations to cities. Superconducting wire can hold a much higher current density than existing

copper wire and is lossless and therefore energy saving. Superconductors offer powerful

opportunities for restoring the reliability of the power grid and increasing its capacity and efficiency by

providing reactive power reserves against blackouts, and by generating and transmitting electricity.

Again some of the possible applications include:

magnetically levitated superfast train

efficient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

lossless power generators

Transformers, and transmission lines

Powerful supercomputers, wireless communication

Magnetic cloaking devices for warships

Force fields for protecting interplanetary astronauts from cosmic radiation

Plasma rockets to propel their spaceships

SQUID miracle sensors and atom smashers.


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A room-temperature superconductor would make energy use ultra- efficient. Envisaged future

applications of superconductors exist also in ultrafast electronic devices and in quantum computing.

One spectacular property of superconductors is their lack of electrical resistance, which makes them

almost ideal for producing and using electrical energy. Another is their remarkable sensitivity to

magnetic fields, which makes it possible to produce superconducting junctions that excel as sensitive

detectors and as elements for the next generation of computers.

-Superconducting prototypes of motors, generators, transmission lines and ship propulsion units

already have been built.

-Supercooled superconductors cause a prototype train in Japan to float on a test track several

kilometres long.

-Superconductors also have entered the marketplace, in the powerful magnets used in magnetic

resonance imaging.

According to Mr.Theodore Geballe, a professor at Stanford Universitys Department of appliedphysics, There are at least three classes of materials with promise for supporting superconductivity at

much higher temperatures than are now poss ible

Artificial structures in the form of thin films can be grown layer by layer to optimize the electron-

electron interactions that give rise to superconductivity. A few laboratories in Europe, Asia and the

United States, including at Stanford, already have grown films that conduct electricity without loss at

minus 297 F in directions both parallel and perpendicular to the film. They have built "superlattices" by

sandwiching layers of yttrium, barium, copper and oxygen with layers of related atoms. The highly

ordered atoms in these lattices promote sophisticated patterns of superconductivity.

Molecular crystals are a second promising class of materials. One of these, buckminsterfullerene, is

made up of 60 carbon atoms that fit together like Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes or the panels

of a soccer ball. AT&T Bell Labs discovered earlier this year that these "buckyballs" become

superconducting when exposed to vapours of such alkali metals as potassium.

In a third class of materials, organic charge transfer salts, and conductivity takes place along chains

of organic molecules. So far in this relatively new field, superconductivity occurs only at temperatures

slightly above liquid helium, minus 452 F. Superconductivity in these organic chains also competes

with other forces, such as magnetism, which - to the consternation of scientists - suppresses the

superconductivity.

The future of superconductivity research is to find materials that can become superconductors at

room temperature. Once this happens, the whole world of electronics, power and transportation willbe revolutionized


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CHAPTER 5

REPORTS ON ROOM TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS BY MR. MARK GOLDES (the CEO

& CHAIRMAN OF MAGNETIC POWER Inc. And the subsidiary ROOM TEMPERATURE

SUPERCONDUCTORS Inc)

Since 1970s there has been a sustained effort to bring about a change in the cost of transportingelectricity. In that regard they attempted at plastic and found that the polymer qualified as a conductor

suitable to sustain high voltage.

In the last few years we have seen the birth of a company where the CEO Mr. Goldes has promised

to invest $ 6 mn down the line for three years to convert the copperwires in household appliances,

motors etc. at a large scale.

A synopsis of the interview with the CEO of Room Temperature Superconductors Inc. Mr. Goldes:

Oxidized Polypropylene was used in their research which indicated more conductivity and

was also convenient as it weighed less than the conventional wires. They used the atactic

(amorphous) material which is often discarded as a waste product. Eventually on a per ampere basisit is likely to be cheaper than copper.

The materials are common plastics and are likely to prove easier to form into cable than was

possible with cryogenically cooled ceramics and metals.

Working After proper processing is done electron chains form in the material and they

cluster in a region about one micron in diameter. A cluster always carries 50 amperes even though

each is only about one fiftieth the diameter of a human hair.

The ultra grid would provide a tie line for the nations electric power utilities. Disaster will have

a far less impact if power can be rapidly imported from the areas that were not affected .

The door to wire and cable development has been opened. They have now successfully

patented concentration techniques which is an essential step leading to the creation of wires.

The wires that will be developed are likely to provide energy storage in a form extremely

useful for computer chips and other electronic devices. They can charge and discharge at very high

speed.

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION

India is a worst example in terms of T & D losses. Our countrys power sector , infamous for its

distribution sector inefficiencies, shares the top slot in the company of countries such as Nigeria and

Nicaragua when it comes to overall Transmission and Distribution (T&D) loss levels. Indias average

loss levels is about 33%.

While the Government has tried to stem the loss levels through efforts at metering of 11 kV feeders

and consumer meter, energy accounting and auditing, the Centre's key reform project the

Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) has been perceived to be

losing steam. Taking advantage of the incentives available under APDRP for reducing T&D losses,

distribution utilities in some States such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan have shown

reduction in cash losses over the last three financial years.


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However, most others, including traditional laggards such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh,

have been unable to stem their T&D losses.

Apart from political patronage which institutionalises the fact there are other challenges which can be

largely addressed if a superconducting methodology can be applied successfully in which case the

losses due to high voltage elevation and other technical glitches can be effectively dealt with.

Moreover the copper is not an inexhaustible resource. Therefore to look forward to invest a new

conductor is not only pragmatic but also very timely.

If the superconducting benefits any country it can never be other than our own country India who will

be the largest beneficiary.

REFERRENCE

http://www.physorg.com/news134828104.html

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-11/ns-stw112801.ph p

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question610.htm

http://www.dailytech.com/Indian+University+Reportedly+Observes+Room+Temperature+Supercon

ductor/article19179.htm
http://www.physorg.com/news134828104.htmlhttp://www.physorg.com/news134828104.htmlhttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-11/ns-stw112801.phphttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-11/ns-stw112801.phphttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-11/ns-stw112801.phphttp://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question610.htmhttp://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question610.htmhttp://www.dailytech.com/Indian+University+Reportedly+Observes+Room+Temperature+Superconductor/article19179.htmhttp://www.dailytech.com/Indian+University+Reportedly+Observes+Room+Temperature+Superconductor/article19179.htmhttp://www.dailytech.com/Indian+University+Reportedly+Observes+Room+Temperature+Superconductor/article19179.htmhttp://www.dailytech.com/Indian+University+Reportedly+Observes+Room+Temperature+Superconductor/article19179.htmhttp://www.dailytech.com/Indian+University+Reportedly+Observes+Room+Temperature+Superconductor/article19179.htmhttp://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question610.htmhttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-11/ns-stw112801.phphttp://www.physorg.com/news134828104.html

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