Ultra Conductors

Conductor

Any material or object that allows the flow of electricity. A basic necessity in most electrical or electronics circuit. However even the very best of conductors oppose electricity and thus sometimes inhibit us to a limited range of application - The demand " Zero resistance". Bringing about one of the most important scientific changes in science and technology:

The overall economic development of any country depends upon the electrical power. While the main components of the electrical power system are transmission lines, generating stations, and distributed systems. However, the source and load stations are connected with the help of transmission lines. These transmission systems will be of a large area such as (State Transmission System)and are termed as Grid. But when it comes to distribution system loads of a particular area will also be connected to transmission lines. So, Transmission system plays a very important role in power transfers. The transferred power cannot be utilized in electrical form, so it is to be converted in the form of heat, light or mechanical energy. During these transformations of energy from one form to another, there is the huge amount of heat loss. The main reason behind the heat loss is resistance, but when there is no resistance then there will be no heat loss and transmission capacity of conductor increases. It can be done by the use of Ultra conductors which follows superconductivity principle.

Superconductivity

The superconductivity is the observable fact in which the conductor losses its complete resistance when kept at temperature 100 º above absolute zero (-273 ºK), and this temperature is also known as Characteristic Critical Temperature.This occurrence was discovered by Dutch physicist; Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in 1911. The conductors which show superconductivity are called Ultra conductors. However, the rate of electrical conduction increases with the decrease in temperature.

When current passes through pure mercury wire with gradual temperature decrement, It was observed that there was no resistance at a temperature 4.2 Kelvin. The Superconductors are also known as Ultra Conductors, These conductors have the capacity to conduct electricity with insignificant energy loss. The electronic activity inside a superconductor will be entirely different. The resistance provides the obstruction to electrons and obstructions offered due to a collision of electrons with impurities and web framework. But the movement of superconducting electrons through these obstacles is quite different. The electrons inside superconductors travel in such a way that, they pass without any interruption through the complex lattice. As there is no interruption involved, there will be no collision and this creates no friction. It results in the transmission of electricity without loss in the current and energy. Let us see the theory of superconductivity.

The above graph is of Normal conductor v/s Ultra conductor.

BCS Theory

The contribution of Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer explains about the superconductivity at a temperature close to the zero temperature and cooper discovered that atomic lattice vibrations were responsible for unifying the entire current; the electrons are forced to pair up in teams that could easily pass through the hurdles which are accountable for resistance in the conductor. While this theory successfully represents the attraction of electrons to one another through crystalline lattice structure, although electrons have the same charge. When the oscillation of lattice takes place in positive and negative regions, the electron pair is pulled jointly and pushed aside without collision. Here, the electron pairing is favorable as it has the tendency of putting the element into lesser energy state. Once they combine together in the pair, then they move in a well-defined manner through ultra conductors. Below a critical temperature, the paired electrons form a macroscopically occupied single quantum state. The figure below represents the complete procedure. Here the electron pair is moving through the lattice containing positive ions surrounding the cooper pair.

These are the three important factors which define the superconducting state:

• Critical Temperature (T): It is the utmost temperature at which superconductivity occurs in a material. Below this transition temperature T is the resistance of a particular element that becomes equal to zero.
• Critical Magnetic Field (Hc): This is the value of applied field above which the superconducting state will be changed to non-superconducting state.
• Critical Current Density (Jc): Is the highest value of current per unit cross-sectional area that can be carried by superconductor without resistance.

Meissner Effect

The levitation of a magnetic material above a superconductor which is cooled below the characteristic of critical temperature is called Meissner Effect. Here, the surrounded magnetic field does not go through the superconductor. This creates an induced current which creates magnetic forces that prevent attraction of two materials, And this makes the magnet gets levitated above the superconductor. The above-stated effect can be utilized for the many industrial applications.

You can see the superconductivity behaviors of certain materials in the below image with their characteristic critical temperatures.

Applications Of Ultra Conductor

• Military
• Medicine
• Transportation
• Theoretical and Experimental Science
• Power Production and Power Transmission

Conclusion

As the demand for power is continuously increasing; we have to select the conductor which provides power with negligible losses. However Superconductivity is totally dependent upon cooper pair formation, this cooper pair prevents the collision of electrons into various imperfections which further results in a formation of resistance. These cooper pairs are formed with the help of Superatoms. These Superatoms are when properly arranged in the form of the long chain along a material substrate, electricity can flow through it without any restrictions. So Superconductors or Ultraconductors can be the conductor of the future. The research is going on to produce superconductivity phenomenon even at high temperature, as there is a change in the quantum state even in high temperature. So, finally, modification in components of the power system will obviously improve its efficiency and this can only be done by the application of Ultra conductors.