Product Design, Manufacturing & Innovation Resources
Lar » Supercondutividade

Supercondutividade

1911-04-08
  • Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Cryogenic laboratory setup demonstrating superconductivity with solid mercury.

(Imagem gerada apenas para fins ilustrativos)

In 1911, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity while studying the resistance of solid mercury at criogênico temperatures. He observed that the electrical resistance of mercury abruptly dropped to zero at a critical temperature ([latex]T_c[/latex]) of 4.2 K. This phenomenon, termed superconductivity, represents a state of matter with exactly zero electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic fields.

The discovery was a direct consequence of Onnes’s pioneering work in low-temperature physics, specifically his successful liquefaction of helium in 1908. This achievement opened up a new temperature regime for experimental investigation, down to about 1 K. Onnes was initially investigating how the electrical resistance of pure metals behaved at these extremely low temperatures. Prevailing theories suggested that resistance would either level off to a constant value or increase again as electron motion ceased. However, when his team cooled a sample of solid mercury, they observed a sudden, complete disappearance of resistance at 4.2 K. Onnes initially suspected a short circuit but soon confirmed the phenomenon was real and intrinsic to the material. He called this new state “supraconductivity” (later superconductivity). This discovery was revolutionary because classical physics could not explain how electrons could move through a material lattice without any energy loss. It marked the birth of a new field of physics and demonstrated the existence of macroscopic quantum phenomena, where quantum effects become visible on a large scale. The zero-resistance state implies that a current induced in a superconducting loop could persist indefinitely without a power source, a concept later verified in persistent current experiments.

The implications were profound, suggesting possibilities for lossless energy transmission and the creation of extremely powerful magnets. However, the extremely low temperatures required (liquid helium temperatures) made practical applications challenging for many decades. The discovery spurred a global research effort to find materials with higher critical temperatures and to develop a theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanism, a puzzle that would remain unsolved for nearly 50 years until the advent of the BCS theory.

UNESCO Nomenclature: 2211
Física do estado sólido

Tipo

Propriedade física

Interrupção

Revolucionário

Uso

Uso generalizado

Precursores

  • liquefaction of helium (1908)
  • development of cryogenics
  • Drude model of electrical conduction
  • studies on electrical resistance at low temperatures

Aplicações

  • ressonância magnética (RM)
  • aceleradores de partículas
  • trens maglev
  • superconducting quantum interference devices (squids)
  • power transmission lines

Patentes:

NA

Ideias de Inovação Potencial

Devido ao tráfego de bots de coleta de dados, atualmente superior a 40 mil por dia, este conteúdo é reservado aos membros da comunidade.
> Login < ou > Registrar < (100% gratuito) para acessar isso, assim como todo o restante do conteúdo e das ferramentas restritas.

Related to: superconductivity, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, critical temperature, zero resistance, mercury, cryogenics, low-temperature physics, phase transition, condensed matter, quantum mechanics.

Contexto histórico

Supercondutividade

1907
1909
1910
1911-04-08
1913
1915
1916
1904
1907
1909
1910
1912
1915
1915-11
1916

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

Princípios relacionados à invenção, inovação e tecnologia

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