Superconductivity – applications and perspectives

Date of publication: 17-07-2026 🕒 3 min read

A very important parameter from the point of view of the application of a given material in electrical engineering is its resistance. The greater it is, the more the conductor heats up and the greater the energy losses. This is a very unfavorable phenomenon from the point of view of energy transmission on both the micro and macro scale. Therefore, scientists are looking for solutions aimed at eliminating these losses. One of the most important discoveries in this field was made accidentally at the beginning of the 20th century – this refers to superconductivity.

Superconductivity is the phenomenon of the complete disappearance of electrical resistance accompanied by the simultaneous “expulsion” of the magnetic field outside the superconductor. This phenomenon occurs under conditions characteristic for a given material – below a certain critical temperature, and in some cases also under sufficiently high pressure. Nowadays known superconductors require either very low temperatures or extremely high pressure. For example:

Classic superconductors (e.g., mercury, lead) require temperatures on the order of a few kelvins.
High-temperature superconductors (copper oxides – cuprates) require temperatures around 77K (liquid nitrogen), e.g., YBa₂Cu₃O₇ has a superconducting temperature of 92K.
Hydrogen sulfide (H₃S) becomes superconducting under a pressure of 150GPa (!) at a temperature of 203K.
The record holder for temperature lanthanum hydride LaH₁₀ is a superconductor under a pressure of 170GPa (!) at about 260K. This is one of the highest reliably confirmed transition temperatures to the superconducting state.

Superconductivity can occur in various materials. Materials that are dielectrics under normal conditions can also exhibit superconductivity.

The necessity to generate extremely high pressure and cool the superconducting material to very low temperatures causes the requirement to build complicated, expensive devices. This is one of the main reasons why applications of superconductors, although tempting, are not widespread.

Discovery of superconductivity

The discovery of superconductivity was preceded by attempts to liquefy oxygen made by Louis Paul Cailletet. These contributed in 1908 to the liquefaction of helium – this was achieved by the scientist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes. It was a fundamental step in the field of low-temperature material studies. The reason why materials were studied under extremely low temperatures at that time was due to theories that said that when lowering the temperature either resistance would decrease or electrons would be “frozen,” their movement would be impossible, and resistance would increase to infinity.

Onnes’ team studied gold and platinum plates with different pure element content. During the research it was noticed that resistance decreased with temperature. At a certain temperature its value stabilized and was greater the more impurities the material contained. This disproved the theory suggesting the “freezing” of electrons.

For one of the experiments, distilled mercury was chosen because of the possibility of achieving high material purity. The purpose of the experiment conducted on April 8, 1911, was to check its resistance at the temperature of liquid helium. The team led by Kamerlingh Onnes and Gerrit Jan Flim started the research. A bridge and mirror galvanometer were used to measure resistance. A drop of mercury resistance to 0Ω was observed below 4.2K. This discovery initiated research on superconductivity in various materials.

The greatest dream of scientists remains the discovery of a material that would exhibit superconducting properties at room temperature and normal pressure. Such a breakthrough could revolutionize energy, transport, and IT technologies, eliminating energy losses and opening the way for new technological solutions.

For his achievements in the field of low-temperature material research and the discovery of the phenomenon of superconductivity, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes received the Nobel Prize in 1913.

Applications of superconductors

In superconductors, the Meissner effect, mentioned at the beginning, occurs. Under normal conditions, the external magnetic field penetrates the conductor’s interior. If the material is in the superconducting state and subjected to an external magnetic field, the field will be “pushed out” of the superconductor as a result of current induction in the material’s surface layer. A spectacular effect is magnetic levitation – the superconductor is trapped in the lines of the external magnetic field, so it remains in one place in space. This property is the most spectacular effect of superconductivity, not only often demonstrated in various shows but also used in practical applications.

Despite the technical difficulties related to the necessity to cool the superconductor to very low temperatures and maintain that temperature during device operation, superconductors are already widely used today. The phenomenon of superconductivity, however, is used on a small scale but with great success:

Maglev trains use the magnetic levitation of superconductors, which eliminates friction and allows for achieving very high speeds.
In medical diagnostic devices: in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for generating a very strong magnetic field underlying MRI operation; in magnetoencephalography (MEG) for studying brain activity thanks to sensitive SQUID detectors.
Attempts are underway to transmit electric energy using superconductors, which could revolutionize power grids. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, this method is rather experimental and on a small scale. Attempts are also being made to create energy storage, in which superconducting coils can store energy in a magnetic field.
Superconductors enabled the creation of quantum computers and ultra-sensitive sensors (e.g., SQUID for measuring magnetic fields of very low intensity).
Superconducting magnets found applications in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), where they guide beams of elementary particles.
Superconducting magnets are also used in thermonuclear reactors (e.g., ITER), where they serve to maintain plasma in a magnetic field.

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