IM2661 Superconductivity and Applications 6.0 credits

• Educational level

  Second cycle

• Academic level (A-D)

  D

• Subject area

  Physics
  

• Grade scale

  A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

• Home page

• Course page on KTH Social

Learning outcomes

The course aims at giving the students in depth knowledge and know-how within the theory of superconductivity in order to understand and describe the principles behind various superconducting applications.

After the course, the students shold be able to:

- describe different theories of superconductivity and their ranges of validity

- in detail describe the difference between good conductors, perfect conductors and superconductors

- apply London theory, modified London theory and Ginzburg-Landau theory for superconductivity for both derivations and numerical calculations

- explain type-I and type-II superconductivity based on thermodynamic calculations of the Gibbs free energy for a superconductor

- discuss vortices and their properties in a superconductor both quantitatively and qualitatively, especially concerning energy losses in superconducting wires

- apply Bean critical state model

- derive equations for Josephson junctions and relate this to different applications within superconducting electronics

- describe various applications of superconductivity (superconducting wires, magnets, Maglev trains, SQUID:s, tomographs, measurement normals, superconducting electronics etc)

Course main content

Properties of superconductors, Meissner effect, good conductors and perfect conductors

London theory for superconductors

Thermodynamics for superconductors, type-I and type-II superconductivity

Vortices in type-II superconductors, energy losses, Bean critical state model

Josephson junctions, quantum interferometers (SQUID:S), short and long Josephson junctions

Ginzburg-Landau theory for superconductors

Large scale applications (e.g. magnets, energy storage, advanced transportation) and applications in electronics (e.g. SQUID instrumetns, computers, measurement normals).

Eligibility

Good knowledge about basic concepts in vector analysis, like divergence, curl, Gauss and Stokes theorems
Knowledge about basic solid state physics (corresponding to Charles Kittel, "Introduction to solid state physics")

Literature

M. Andersson, Introduction to applied superconductivity, kompendium, KTH

Extra literature:

T.P.Orlando and K.A.Delin, "Foundations of applied superconductivity", Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-18323-4

K.Fossheim and A.Sudbø, "Superconductivity - physics and applications", Wiley, ISBN 0-470-84452-3

Examination

• TEN1 - Examination, 6.0 credits, grade scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

Requirements for final grade

Written exam (TEN1, 6.0 hp), grade A/B/C/D/E/Fx/F
Additional points on the exam from home excercises are only valid until the next years course starts.

Offered by

ICT/Material Physics

Examiner

Magnus Andersson <magnusan@kth.se>

Supplementary information

The course is evaluated according to KTH policy or course analysis.

Version

Course plan valid from: Autumn 09.
Examination information valid from: Autumn 07.