Technological applications of superconductivity
Open-knowledge reference entry
Superconductors function with almost no electrical resistance, making them useful for a variety of rapidly advancing technological applications. One common application is superconducting electromagnets, which utilize a series of superconducting coils to generate a magnetic field. Additionally, the electric power transmission system takes advantage of the low electrical resistance of superconductors to improve efficiency when transferring and storing electrical energy.
Technological applications of superconductivity include:
powerful superconducting electromagnets used in maglev trains, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) machines, magnetic confinement fusion reactors (e.g. tokamaks), and the beam-steering and focusing magnets used in particle accelerators
high sensitivity particle detectors, including the transition edge sensor, the superconducting bolometer, the superconducting tunnel junction detector, the kinetic inductance detector, and the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector
electric motors and generators
railgun and coilgun magnets
fast fault current limiters
low-loss power cables
the production of sensitive magnetometers based on SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices)
fast digital circuits (including those based on Josephson junctions and rapid single flux quantum technology),
RF and microwave filters (e.g., for mobile phone base stations, as well as military ultra-sensitive/selective receivers)
Low-temperature superconductivity
Magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear magnetic resonance
The biggest application for superconductivity is in producing the large-volume, stable, and high-intensity magnetic fields required for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). This represents a multi-billion-US$ market for companies such as Oxford Instruments and Siemens. The magnets typically use low-temperature superconductors (LTS) because high-temperature superconductors are not yet cheap enough to cost-effectively deliver the high, stable, and large-volume fields required, notwithstanding the need to cool LTS instruments to liquid helium temperatures. Superconductors are also used in high field scientific magnets.
As of 2023, there are some cryogen-free MRI magnets that operate within a safe temperature range for an LTS instrument. Rather than using a cryogen, such as liquid helium or nitrogen, that must be continually replenished, this design utilizes a GM cryocooler, which is a closed system containing helium gas.
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