Product Design, Manufacturing & Innovation Resources
Lar » Efeito Meissner

Efeito Meissner

1933
  • Walther Meissner
  • Robert Ochsenfeld
Supercondutor em laboratório demonstrando o efeito Meissner na física do estado sólido.

(Imagem gerada apenas para fins ilustrativos)

Discovered in 1933 by Walther Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld, the Meissner effect is the expulsion of a magnetic field from a superconductor during its transition to the superconducting state. When a material is cooled below its temperatura crítica ([latex]T_c[/latex]) in the presence of a weak external magnetic field, it actively cancels all magnetic flux inside it, becoming a perfect diamagnet.

The Meissner effect is a defining characteristic of supercondutividade, distinguishing it from a hypothetical perfect conductor. A perfect conductor, according to Lenz’s law, would trap any existing magnetic field inside it as it cools, because changing the flux would induce currents to oppose the change. In contrast, a superconductor actively expels the field. This expulsion is achieved by the generation of screening currents on the surface of the material. These currents create a magnetic field that perfectly cancels the external field within the bulk of the superconductor. The magnetic field penetrates only a small distance into the surface, known as the London penetration depth ([latex]\lambda[/latex]). This discovery was crucial because it showed that superconductivity is a true thermodynamic phase transition, not just a case of infinite conductivity. It provided a key piece of the puzzle that any microscopic theory of superconductivity would have to explain. The effect is the basis for the dramatic levitation demonstrations where a magnet floats above a high-temperature superconductor cooled with liquid nitrogen. The expulsion of the magnet’s field by the superconductor creates a repulsive force strong enough to counteract gravity.

O efeito Meissner deixa de funcionar quando o campo magnético aplicado é muito forte. Para supercondutores do Tipo I, a supercondutividade é abruptamente destruída acima de um campo crítico [latex]H_c[/latex]. Para supercondutores do Tipo II, o campo começa a penetrar o material na forma de vórtices de fluxo quantizados acima de um campo crítico inferior [latex]H_{c1}[/latex], enquanto o material permanece supercondutor até um campo crítico superior muito mais alto [latex]H_{c2}[/latex].

UNESCO Nomenclature: 2211
Física do estado sólido

Tipo

Propriedade física

Interrupção

Fundamentais

Uso

Uso generalizado

Precursores

  • descoberta da supercondutividade (1911)
  • Equações de Maxwell do eletromagnetismo
  • Lei de Lenz
  • compreensão do diamagnetismo

Aplicações

  • Trens maglev (levitação magnética)
  • mancais magnéticos supercondutores
  • diagnóstico de materiais supercondutores
  • demonstrações de fenômenos quânticos

Patentes:

NA

Ideias de Inovação Potencial

  • frictionless high-speed transportation systems in vacuum tubes
  • self-assembling structures using programmable magnetic fields and superconductors
  • active shielding for sensitive electronics against electromagnetic interference
  • contactless manipulation of objects in manufacturing and medicine
  • hoverboards using high-temperature superconductors
  • stabilization systems for floating architecture
  • haptic feedback devices creating levitating tactile shapes
  • waste classificação systems using magnetic levitation to separate materials
  • silent, frictionless pumps for corrosive or sensitive fluids
  • gyroscopes with levitating rotors for ultra-precise navigation
Related to: Meissner effect, superconductivity, diamagnetism, magnetic field expulsion, London penetration depth, temperatura crítica, Type I superconductor, screening currents, magnetic levitation, phase transition.

Contexto histórico

Efeito Meissner

1930
1931
1932
1933
1937
1940
1947
1930
1930
1931
1932
1936-01-01
1938
1940
1950

(Caso a data seja desconhecida ou irrelevante, por exemplo, "mecânica dos fluidos", é fornecida uma estimativa aproximada de seu surgimento notável)

10º ano aniversário

Imagens em tamanho real e downloads estão disponíveis apenas, 100% gratuitos, para membros registrados.