Better superconductors from ceramic copper oxides
Medical magnetic resonance imaging, high-power microwave generators, superconducting magnetic energy storage units, and the solenoids in nuclear fusion reactors are very different technologies which all critically rely on the ability of superconducting materials to carry and store large electric currents in a compact space without overheating or dissipating large amounts of energy. Despite their extraordinary properties, most superconducting materials present their own set of demands, such as the need to cool down to the temperature of liquid helium for medical MRIs. Still, superconductors are so efficient compared to everyday materials like copper that the cost of cooling them down with special cryogenic circuits is negligible compared to the energy saved from being converted — and ultimately wasted — in the form of heat, says Riccardo Comin, an assistant professor of physics. “When you are trying to run a large current through a conventional circuit like one that’s made of copper, there will be a lot of...