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7A70.25 - Quantum Levitation and Flux Pinning
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Code Number: 7A70.25
Demo Title: Quantum Levitation and Flux Pinning
Condition: Good
Principle: Superconductivity, Flux Pinning
Area of Study: Modern Physics
Equipment:
Flux Pinning Superconductors, Liquid Nitrogen, Dewar, and Neodymium Magnets.
Procedure:
See also: 5G50.50 in Electricity and Magnetism.
Cool the superconductor and press it into the magnet. The superconductor should be pinned at that location until it warms up.
You can also place the superconductor onto the magnets and then cool it to Liquid Nitrogen temperature. The superconductor may rise up off the magnets when it becomes cool, but if it does not you can pick it up and show that it is pinned to the magnet configuration it experienced when it was cooled.
There are several magnetic tracks in different shapes available for this demonstration.
References:
- James Lincoln, "Superconductors in the High School Classroom", TPT, Vol. 55, #8, Nov. 2017, p. 506.
- Ronald Brown, "Demonstrating the Meissner Effect and Persistent Current", TPT, Vol. 38, #3, Mar. 2000, p. 168.
- P. J. Ouseph, "Levitation of a Magnet Over a Superconductor", TPT, #4, Apr. 1990, p. 205.
- C. P. Strehlow, M.C. Sullivan, "A Classroom Demonstration of Levitation and Suspension of a Superconductor over a Magnetic Track", AJP, Vol. 77, #9, Sept. 2009, p. 847.
- A. Badia-Majos, "Understanding Stable Levitation of Superconductors from Intermediate Electromagnets", AJP, Vol. 74, #12, Dec. 2006, p. 1136.
- E. H. Brandt, "Rigid Levitation and Suspension of High-Temperature Superconductors by Magnets", AJP, Vol. 58, #1, Jan. 1990, p. 43.
- Warren Pickett and Mikhail Eremets, "The Quest for Room-Temperature Superconductivity in Hydrides", Physics Today, Vol. 72, #5, May 2019, p. 52.
- Richard J. Fitzgerald, "University Lower Bound on the Dissipation of Superconductors", Physics Today, Vol. 71, #4, Apr. 2017, p. 24.
- Johanna L. Miller, "Unconventional Superconductivity Discovered in Graphene Bilayers", Physics Today, Vol. 71, #5, May 2018, p. 15.
- R. Arpaia, S. Caprara, R. Fumagalli, G. De Vecchi, Y. Y. Peng, E. Andersson, D. Betto, G. M. De Luca, N. B. Brookes, F. Lombardi, M. Salluzzo, L. Braicovich, C. Di Castro, M. Grilli, and G. Ghiringhelli, "Dynamical Charge Density Fluctuations Pervading the Phase Diagram of a Cu-Based High-Tc Superconductor", Science, Vol. 365, #6456, Aug. 2019, p. 906.
- H.-H. Kim, S. M. Souliou, M. E. Barber3, E. Lefrançois, M. Minola, M. Tortora, R. Heid, N. Nandi, R. A. Borzi, G. Garbarino, A. Bosak, J. Porras, T. Loew, M. König, P. J. W. Moll, A. P. Mackenzie, B. Keimer, C. W. Hicks, and M. Le Tacon, "Uniaxial Pressure Control of Competing Orders in a High-Temperature Superconductor", Science, Vol. 362, #6418, Nov. 2018, p. 1040.
- P. Giraldo-Gallo, J. A. Galvis, Z. Stegen, K. A. Modic, F. F. Balakirev, J. B. Betts, X. Lian, C. Moir, S. C. Riggs, J. Wu, A. T. Bollinger, X. He, I. Božović, B. J. Ramshaw, R. D. McDonald, G. S. Boebinger, and A. Shekhter, "Scale-Invariant Magnetorestistance in a Cuprate Superconductor", Science, Vol. 361, #6401, Aug. 2018, p. 479.
- P. O. Sprau, A. Kostin, A. Kreisel, A. E. Böhmer, V. Taufour, P. C. Canfield, S. Mukherjee, P. J. Hirschfeld, B. M. Andersen, and J. C. Séamus Davis, "Discovery of Orbital-Selective Cooper Pairing in FeSe", Science, Vol. 357, #6346, July 2017, p. 75.
- Jearl Walker, "The Amateur Scientist: The Spectra of Streetlights Illuminate Basic Principles of Quantum Mechanics", Scientific American, Vol. 250, #1, Jan. 1984, p. 138.
- Richard M. Sutton and The American Association of Physics Teachers, "A-11. Glow Discharge Tube", Demonstration Experiments in Physics, 1938, p. 437 - 438.
- Quantum Experience Packet, Quantum Levitation Starter Kit, Quantum Levitation Maglev Kit, and Quantum Levitation for Undergraduate and High School Teachers.
- Robert Ehrlich, "L.11. Superconductivity", Turning the World Inside Out and 174 Other Simple Physics Demonstrations, p. 153.