Coombs Tim
Electrical Engineering Department, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK.
Materials (Basel). 2020 Oct 19;13(20):4652. doi: 10.3390/ma13204652.
Taking a technology from the laboratory to industry is a long and resource-consuming process. Discovered more than a century ago, the phenomenon of superconductivity is testament to this process. Despite the promise of this technology, currently the only major use of superconductors outside the laboratory is in MRI machines. The advent of high-temperature superconductors in 1986 heralded a new dawn. Machines which do not require cooling with liquid helium are a very attractive target. A myriad range of different superconductors were rapidly discovered over the next decade. This process of discovery continues to this day with, most recently, a whole new class, the pnictides, being discovered in 2006. Many different usages have been identified, including in motors, generators, wind turbines, fault current limiters, and high-current low-loss cables. This Special Issue looks at some of the different factors which will help to realise these devices and thereby bring about a superconducting world.
将一项技术从实验室转化到工业领域是一个漫长且耗费资源的过程。超导现象在一个多世纪前被发现，就是这一过程的明证。尽管这项技术前景广阔，但目前超导体在实验室之外的唯一主要用途是在磁共振成像（MRI）机器中。1986年高温超导体的出现预示着一个新的开端。不需要用液氦冷却的机器是一个非常有吸引力的目标。在接下来的十年里，人们迅速发现了无数种不同的超导体。这一发现过程一直持续到今天，最近在2006年发现了全新的一类——铁基超导体。人们已经确定了许多不同的用途，包括在电动机、发电机、风力涡轮机、故障电流限制器和大电流低损耗电缆中的应用。本期特刊探讨了一些不同的因素，这些因素将有助于实现这些设备，从而带来一个超导的世界。
