Metallic Superconductors - The Workhorses of Superconductivity

Dear Colleagues,

Superconductivity was first discovered in metal superconductors, and the first real applications brought up by the first intermetallic alloys still play an important role until now (NbTi, Nb₃Sn). Moreover, the development of MgB₂ which reaches the highest superconducting transition temperature of approx. 38 K (without external pressure) enables new research possibilities for applications at ~20 K provided by cryo-cooling systems. MgB₂ can replace high-Tc superconductor-based materials due to the fact that a relatively cheap manufacturing process is possible to be applied, and there are no (expensive) rare-earth materials involved. However, MgB₂ shares many features with previous materials like Nb₃Sn. The ever present quest for higher critical currents requires intense research concerning the flux pinning sites created artificially (mechanical deformation or chemical doping), by irradiation and newly developed processing techniques.

Another interesting aspect of metallic superconductors is that they still provide new insights to superconductivity, both theoretically and experimentally. Among such observations is the paramagnetic Meissner effect (PME) observed firstly in Nb disks, and since then also in other metallic systems. Further, two-dimensional systems based on metallic materials like NbSe₂, Bi₂Te₃, etc. offer a simple experimental access to these systems. Therefore, the research on metallic superconductors still offers many possibilities and new developments.

Prof. Dr. Michael Koblischka
Guest Editor

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