Superconductivity and its Applications

Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic fields occurring in certain materials when cooled below a characteristic critical temperature. Superconducting magnets are some of the most powerful electromagnets known. They are used in MRI/NMR machines, mass spectrometers, and the beam-steering magnets used in particle accelerators. They can also be used for magnetic separation, where weakly magnetic particles are extracted from a background of less or non-magnetic particles, as in the pigment industries. Promising future applications include high-performance smart grid, electric power transmission, transformers, power storage devices, electric motors, magnetic levitation devices, fault current limiters, and superconducting magnetic refrigeration.