Welcome to the Superconductivity I module!
Both lectures and exercise classes take place in kleiner Hörsaal
Exam
Exam dates: 8.07, 16.07, 1.08, 5-6.08
Problem sheets and tutorials
Moodle link for submitting your solutions
Tutorials take place in kleiner Hörsaal at 17:00
- 11.04.2024: Units of magnetism, thermodynamic functions (list of questions)
- 25.04.2024: Solutions to Problem sheet 1
- 2.05.2024: Critical field and critical current in Ginzburg-Landau theory (list of questions/topics)
- 16.05.2024: Solutions to Problem sheet 2
- 30.05.2024: Solutions to Problem sheet 3
- 27.06.2024: Solutions to Problem sheet 4
Lecture 12 (27.06.2024). Superconducting materials
Diversity of superconductors
unconventional superconductors
room-temperature superconductors
fake superconductors
Lecture 11 (20.06.2024). BCS and conventional superconductivity
Simple theory of a complex phenomenon
BCS coherence length, pair-breaking current
tunneling experiments
magnesium diboride
Lecture 10 (13.06.2024). Mind the gap: microscopic theory of superconductivity
A crack in solid-state theory: metal with an energy gap
electron-phonon coupling, Cooper pairs, superconducting gap
microwave and photoemission spectroscopy
John Bardeen
Lecture 9 (6.06.2024). Quantum effects in Josephson junctions
Quantum states on tap
RCSJ model, tilted washboard potential
SQUID
superconducting qubits
Lecture 8 (30.05.2024). Josephson junctions
What is at the end of the tunnel?
ac and dc Josephson effects
voltage standard
Brian Josephson
Lecture 7 (23.05.2024). The world of vortices
Flow, creep, and pinning: zoology of superconductors
vortex lattice, pinning
small-angle neutron scattering
superconducting cables and superconducting magnets
Lecture 6 (16.05.2024). Vortices, and where is the critical field?
New strategy for superconductors: when type-II is better than type-I
type-II superconductors, vortices, lower and upper critical fields
Nb-based superconductors
Alexey Abrikosov
Lecture 5 (2.05.2024). Coherence vs. penetration
The invisible length scales of a superconductor
Ginzburg-Landau theory, coherence length
proximity effect
Vitaly Ginzburg
Lecture 4 (25.04.2024). Problems at the interface
Things get difficult when you reach the boundary: a critical blow to London's best theory
surface energy, Landau theory of phase transitions
superconducting tapes
Lev Landau
Lecture 3 (18.04.2024). How deep can field go?
Spatial distribution of field and supercurrent, 10 years to measure the flux
penetration depth, London theory
flux quantization
Fritz London
Lecture 2 (11.04.2024). Thermodynamics of superconductors
Superconductor vs. magnetic field, and how they see each other
Meissner effect, demagnetization, latent heat
magnetic levitation (trains)
Paul Ehrenfest
Lecture 1 (04.04.2024): Expulsion of magnetic field
We will learn why superconductors do not like magnetic field, and how to make things cool
ideal conductor and ideal diamagnet
cryogenics
mercury
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
N.B. Lecture slides contain images from publications that may be licensed differently from the rest of this webpage.