List of superconductors
Encyclopedia
A table showing major parameters of major superconductors of simple structure (numerous metallic alloys are not shown). X:Y means material X doped with element Y, TC is the highest reported transition temperature in kelvin
s and HC is a critical magnetic field in teslas
. "Non-metals" here refers to materials which are normally not considered as metals, but become superconducting upon heavy doping. "BCS" means whether or not the superconductivity is explained within the BCS theory
.
Kelvin
The kelvin is a unit of measurement for temperature. It is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units and is assigned the unit symbol K. The Kelvin scale is an absolute, thermodynamic temperature scale using as its null point absolute zero, the temperature at which all...
s and HC is a critical magnetic field in teslas
Tesla (unit)
The tesla is the SI derived unit of magnetic field B . One tesla is equal to one weber per square meter, and it was defined in 1960 in honour of the inventor, physicist, and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla...
. "Non-metals" here refers to materials which are normally not considered as metals, but become superconducting upon heavy doping. "BCS" means whether or not the superconductivity is explained within the BCS theory
BCS theory
BCS theory — proposed by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer in 1957 — is the first microscopic theory of superconductivity since its discovery in 1911. The theory describes superconductivity as a microscopic effect caused by a "condensation" of pairs of electrons into a boson-like state...
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Formula | TC (K) | HC (T) | Type Superconductor classification Superconductors can be classified in accordance with several criteria that depend on our interest in their physical properties, on the understanding we have about them, on how expensive is cooling them or on the material they are made of.... |
BCS BCS theory BCS theory — proposed by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer in 1957 — is the first microscopic theory of superconductivity since its discovery in 1911. The theory describes superconductivity as a microscopic effect caused by a "condensation" of pairs of electrons into a boson-like state... |
References |
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Metals | |||||
Al Aluminium Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances.... |
1.20 | 0.01 | I | yes | |
Cd Cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low... |
0.52 | 0.0028 | I | yes | |
Gd Gadolinium Gadolinium is a chemical element with the symbol Gd and atomic number 64. It is a silvery-white, malleable and ductile rare-earth metal. It is found in nature only in combined form. Gadolinium was first detected spectroscopically in 1880 by de Marignac who separated its oxide and is credited with... |
1.083 | 0.0058 | I | yes | |
Hf Hafnium Hafnium is a chemical element with the symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. Hafnium was the penultimate stable... |
0.165 | I | yes | ||
a-Hg Mercury (element) Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum... |
4.15 | 0.04 | I | yes | |
b-Hg Mercury (element) Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum... |
3.95 | 0.04 | I | yes | |
Ga Gallium Gallium is a chemical element that has the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Elemental gallium does not occur in nature, but as the gallium salt in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores. A soft silvery metallic poor metal, elemental gallium is a brittle solid at low temperatures. As it liquefies... |
1.1 | 0.005 | I | yes | |
In Indium Indium is a chemical element with the symbol In and atomic number 49. This rare, very soft, malleable and easily fusible post-transition metal is chemically similar to gallium and thallium, and shows the intermediate properties between these two... |
3.4 | 0.03 | I | yes | |
Ir Iridium Iridium is the chemical element with atomic number 77, and is represented by the symbol Ir. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum family, iridium is the second-densest element and is the most corrosion-resistant metal, even at temperatures as high as 2000 °C... |
0.14 | 0.0016 | I | yes | |
a-La Lanthanum Lanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and atomic number 57.Lanthanum is a silvery white metallic element that belongs to group 3 of the periodic table and is the first element of the lanthanide series. It is found in some rare-earth minerals, usually in combination with cerium and... |
4.9 | I | yes | ||
b-La Lanthanum Lanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and atomic number 57.Lanthanum is a silvery white metallic element that belongs to group 3 of the periodic table and is the first element of the lanthanide series. It is found in some rare-earth minerals, usually in combination with cerium and... |
6.3 | I | yes | ||
Mo Molybdenum Molybdenum , is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The name is from Neo-Latin Molybdaenum, from Ancient Greek , meaning lead, itself proposed as a loanword from Anatolian Luvian and Lydian languages, since its ores were confused with lead ores... |
0.92 | 0.0096 | I | yes | |
Nb Niobium Niobium or columbium , is a chemical element with the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. It's a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, which is often found in the pyrochlore mineral, the main commercial source for niobium, and columbite... |
9.26 | 0.82 | II | yes | |
Os Osmium Osmium is a chemical element with the symbol Os and atomic number 76. Osmium is a hard, brittle, blue-gray or blue-blacktransition metal in the platinum family, and is the densest natural element. Osmium is twice as dense as lead. The density of osmium is , slightly greater than that of iridium,... |
0.65 | 0.007 | I | yes | |
Pa Protactinium Protactinium is a chemical element with the symbol Pa and atomic number 91. It is a dense, silvery-gray metal which readily reacts with oxygen, water vapor and inorganic acids. It forms various chemical compounds where protactinium is usually present in the oxidation state +5, but can also assume... |
1.4 | I | yes | ||
Pb Lead Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed... |
7.19 | 0.08 | I | yes | |
Re Rhenium Rhenium is a chemical element with the symbol Re and atomic number 75. It is a silvery-white, heavy, third-row transition metal in group 7 of the periodic table. With an average concentration of 1 part per billion , rhenium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust. The free element has... |
2.4 | 0.03 | I | yes | |
Ru Ruthenium Ruthenium is a chemical element with symbol Ru and atomic number 44. It is a rare transition metal belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table. Like the other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium is inert to most chemicals. The Russian scientist Karl Ernst Claus discovered the element... |
0.49 | 0.005 | I | yes | |
Sn Tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4... |
3.72 | 0.03 | I | yes | |
Ta Tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as tantalium, the name comes from Tantalus, a character in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion resistant. It is part of the refractory... |
4.48 | 0.09 | I | yes | |
Tc Technetium Technetium is the chemical element with atomic number 43 and symbol Tc. It is the lowest atomic number element without any stable isotopes; every form of it is radioactive. Nearly all technetium is produced synthetically and only minute amounts are found in nature... |
7.46-11.2 | 0.04 | II | yes | |
a-Th Thorium Thorium is a natural radioactive chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. It was discovered in 1828 and named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder.... |
1.37 | 0.013 | I | yes | |
Ti Titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color.... |
0.39 | 0.01 | I | yes | |
Tl Thallium Thallium is a chemical element with the symbol Tl and atomic number 81. This soft gray poor metal resembles tin but discolors when exposed to air. The two chemists William Crookes and Claude-Auguste Lamy discovered thallium independently in 1861 by the newly developed method of flame spectroscopy... |
2.39 | 0.02 | I | yes | |
a-U Uranium Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons... |
0.68 | I | yes | ||
b-U Uranium Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons... |
1.8 | I | yes | ||
V Vanadium Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery gray, ductile and malleable transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation. The element is found only in chemically combined form in nature... |
5.03 | 1 | II | yes | |
W Tungsten Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as... |
0.011-4 | 0.00012 | I | yes | |
Zn Zinc Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2... |
0.855 | 0.005 | I | yes | |
Zr Zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name of zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon. Its atomic mass is 91.224. It is a lustrous, grey-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium... |
0.55 | 0.014 | I | yes | |
Non-metals | |||||
Ba8Si46 | 8.07 | 0.008 | II | yes | |
C6Ca | 11.5 | 0.95 | II | ||
C6Li3Ca2 | 11.15 | II | |||
C8K | 0.14 | II | |||
C8KHg | 1.4 | II | |||
C6K | 1.5 | II | |||
C3K | 3.0 | II | |||
C3Li | <0.35 | II | |||
C2Li | 1.9 | II | |||
C3Na | 2.3-3.8 | II | |||
C2Na | 5.0 | II | |||
C8Rb | 0.025 | II | |||
C6Sr | 1.65 | II | |||
C6Yb | 6.5 | II | |||
C60Cs2Rb | 33 | II | yes | ||
C60K3 | 19.8 | 0.013 | II | yes | |
C60RbX | 28 | II | yes | ||
Diamond:B | 11.4 | 4 | II | yes | |
InN Indium(III) nitride Indium nitride is a small bandgap semiconductor material which has potential application in solar cells and high speed electronics.The bandgap of InN has now been established as ~0.7 eV depending on temperature .... |
3 | II | yes | ||
In2O3 Indium(III) oxide Indium oxide is a chemical compound, an amphoteric oxide of indium.-Crystal structure:Amorphous indium oxide is insoluble in water but soluble in acids, whereas crystalline indium oxide is insoluble in both water and acids. The crystalline form exist in two phases, cubic and rhombohedral . Both... |
3.3 | ~3 | II | yes | |
Si:B | 0.4 | 0.4 | II | yes | |
SiC:B | 1.4 | 0.008 | I | yes | |
SiC:Al | 1.5 | 0.04 | II | yes | |
Binary alloys | |||||
LaB6 Lanthanum hexaboride ]]Lanthanum hexaboride is an inorganic chemical, a boride of lanthanum. It is a refractory ceramic material that has a melting point of 2210 °C, and is insoluble in water and hydrochloric acid. It has a low work function and one of the highest electron emissivities known, and is stable in... |
0.45 | yes | |||
MgB2 Magnesium diboride Magnesium diboride is a simple ionic binary compound that has proven to be an inexpensive and useful superconducting material.Its superconductivity was announced in the journal Nature in March 2001. Its critical temperature of is the highest amongst conventional superconductors... |
39 | 74 | II | yes | |
Nb3Al | 18 | II | yes | ||
Nb3Ge Niobium-germanium Niobium-germanium is a metallic chemical compound of niobium and germanium . It has A15 phase structure.It is a superconductor with a critical temperature of 23.2 kelvin .... |
23.2 | 37 | II | yes | |
NbO Niobium monoxide -Niobium monoxide:Niobium monoxide, is the chemical compound with the formula NbO. It is a grey solid with metallic conductivity. It has an unusual cubic crystal structure, related to the rock salt structure, where both niobium and oxygen atoms are four coordinate square planar... |
1.38 | II | yes | ||
NbN Niobium nitride Niobium nitride is a compound of niobium and nitrogen with the chemical formula NbN. At low temperatures , niobium nitride becomes a superconductor, and is used in detectors for infrared light.-Uses:... |
16 | II | yes | ||
Nb3Sn Niobium-tin Niobium-tin or triniobium-tin is a metallic chemical compound of niobium and tin , used industrially as a type II superconductor. This intermetallic compoundis a A15 phases superconductor... |
18.3 | 30 | II | yes | |
NbTi Niobium-titanium Niobium-titanium is an alloy of niobium and titanium, used industrially as a type II superconductor wire for superconducting magnets... |
10 | 15 | II | yes | |
YB6 Yttrium borides Yttrium boride refers to a crystalline material composed of different proportions of yttrium and boron, such as YB2, YB4, YB6, YB12, YB25, YB50 and YB66. They are all gray-colored, hard solids having high melting temperatures. The most common form is the yttrium hexaboride YB6... |
8.4 | II | yes | ||
TiN Titanium nitride Titanium nitride is an extremely hard ceramic material, often used as a coating on titanium alloys, steel, carbide, and aluminium components to improve the substrate's surface properties.... |
5.6 | yes | |||
ZrN Zirconium nitride Zirconium nitride is an inorganic compound found in a variety of uses.-Properties:ZrN applied by the physical vapor deposition coating process is a light gold color similar to elemental gold.ZrN superconducts below .-Uses:... |
10 | yes | |||
ZrB12 | 6.0 | I | yes | ||
See also
- Conventional superconductorConventional superconductorConventional superconductors are materials that display superconductivity as described by BCS theory or its extensions.Critical temperatures of some simple metals:ElementTc Al1.20Hg4.15Mo0.92Nb9.26Pb7.19...
- covalent superconductorsCovalent superconductorsCovalent semiconductors are such solids as diamond, silicon, germanium, silicon carbide and silicon-germanium where atoms are linked by covalent bonds. Most of those materials, at least in their bulk form, are well studied and rarely hit the front pages of the top scientific journals in the last...
- High-temperature superconductivityHigh-temperature superconductivityHigh-temperature superconductors are materials that have a superconducting transition temperature above . From 1960 to 1980, 30 K was thought to be the highest theoretically possible Tc...
- Room temperature superconductorRoom temperature superconductorA room-temperature superconductor is a material yet to be discovered which would be capable of exhibiting superconducting properties at operating temperatures above 0° C . This is not strictly speaking "room temperature" A room-temperature superconductor is a material yet to be discovered...
- SuperconductivitySuperconductivitySuperconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance occurring in certain materials below a characteristic temperature. It was discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum...
- Superconductor classificationSuperconductor classificationSuperconductors can be classified in accordance with several criteria that depend on our interest in their physical properties, on the understanding we have about them, on how expensive is cooling them or on the material they are made of....
- Technological applications of superconductivityTechnological applications of superconductivitySome of the technological applications of superconductivity include:* the production of sensitive magnetometers based on SQUIDs* fast digital circuits ,...
- Timeline of low-temperature technologyTimeline of low-temperature technologyThe following is a timeline of low-temperature technology and cryogenic technology .-16th century BCE – 17th century CE :...
- Type-I superconductor
- Type-II superconductorType-II superconductorA Type-II superconductor is a superconductor characterized by the formation of vortex lattices in magnetic field. It has a continuous second order phase transition from the superconducting to the normal state within an increasing magnetic field....
- Unconventional superconductorUnconventional superconductorUnconventional superconductors are materials that display superconductivity which does not conform to either the conventional BCS theory or the Nikolay Bogolyubov's theory or its extensions....