niobium

2 posts

A microscope that catches the slightest hints of heat

4 min read
Scicomm atomic force microscopy bolometry critical temperature electromagnetic fields hexagonal boron nitride hyperbolic phonon-polaritons infrared laser niobium optical power phonons quantum materials quasiparticles scanning probe superconductor terahertz fields transiditransition-edge sensors

A superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) is a device well-known for its extreme sensitivity to photons, the particles of light — so much so that they can count photons one by one. They also have…

The awesome limits of superconductors

8 min read
Scicomm Abrikosov vortex lattice Abrikosov vortices BCS theory Bose-Einstein condensate CERN Cooper pairs copper electrical conductivity electrical resistivity electrons flux-flow resistance Joule heating Large Hadron Collider Lisa Randall magnesium diboride magnetic flux Meissner effect niobium Pauli's exclusion principle Praveen Chaddah protons silver superconductors superfluid helium titanium type I superconductors type II superconductors vortex pinning

On June 24, a press release from CERN said that scientists and engineers working on upgrading the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) had "built and operated … the most powerful electrical transmission l…