Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Energy News .




ENERGY TECH
Using magnetism to understand superconductivity
by Staff Writers
Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) Sep 05, 2012


File image.

Might it one day be possible to transmit electricity from an offshore wind turbine to land-based users without any loss of current? Materials known as "high temperature" superconductors (even though they must be maintained at -140C!), which can conduct electricity without any losses, were supposed to make this dream a reality. But over the past twenty-five years, scientists have not been able to make any progress in this area.

Research being done in EPFL's Laboratory for Quantum Magnetism (LQM) could change that. Their study of magnetism at extremely small scales could give physicists a tool to use in their search for new superconducting materials.

Studying a superthin layer
There are some ceramics that are excellent insulators at room temperature but that become perfect conductors when submersed in liquid nitrogen. However, this phenomenon, known as "high temperature" superconductivity, is not at all well understood by physicists.

They theorize that at these temperatures, the collective quantum magnetic properties of the atoms in the material might come into play. But studying the magnetic properties of these materials at this minuscule scale would require years of effort.

Mark Dean, John Hill and Ivan Bozovic from Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Thorsten Schmitt from Switzerland's Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), and Bastien Dalla Piazza and Henrik Ronnow from EPFL have unveiled the phenomena at work at this atomic scale. Using a unique device, the Brookhaven team created a layer just a single atom thick.

Then, despite the material's extreme thinness, the PSI scientists were able to use an ultrasensitive instrument to measure the magnetic dynamics of the atoms. And then EPFL provided the final piece of the puzzle, with mathematical models to analyze the measurements.

A long-awaited research tool
"We now have a kind of flashlight that will show us what direction we should take in our search," explains Ronnow. Without understanding how these superconducting properties occurred at these temperatures, researchers were probing in the dark, using trial and error, to explore promising new materials.

By combining these results with other recent work done by LQM researcher Nikolai Tsyrulin, the EPFL team has provided a new method to help physicists in their search for new superconductors. It's a long-awaited step forward in the field; the Nobel Prize recognizing the discovery of high temperature superconductivity was awarded more than 25 years ago.

Promises for the future
Electrical resistance in traditional power lines leads to energy losses on the order of 3% in the electricity grid. At the scale of an entire country, this translates into several thousand gigawatts, which, in Switzerland's case, would be the equivalent of the electricity consumption of a city the size of Geneva.

"The energy challenges we face are significant; being able to use superconductivity won't solve all of them, but it would nonetheless enable huge energy savings," Ronnow adds.

.


Related Links
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








ENERGY TECH
Environmental technologies used in Russia
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Sep 04, 2012
For the first time in history Russia's Pavilion won the prize of the jury at the 13th International Architecture Biennale in Venice, where Russia presented a project dedicated to science towns, including the Skolkovo Innovation Centre. This project is being implemented with the use of unique environmental technologies. "Green" or sustainable architecture appeared in Russia in the middle of ... read more


ENERGY TECH
Russian Arctic resources

Zimbabwe utility halts disconnections

India's Reliance Power and China Datang ink deal

Romney touts energy independence by 2020

ENERGY TECH
Oil market steady amid weak Chinese data

Using magnetism to understand superconductivity

Nigerian community urges action on oil devastation

Fire points to Venezuela oil industry woes

ENERGY TECH
Japan starts up first offshore wind farm

Maximum Protection against Dust; Minimal Effort

US Wind Power Market Riding a Wave That Is Likely to Crest in 2012

Wind farms: A danger to ultra-light aircraft?

ENERGY TECH
Showing the way to improved water-splitting catalysts

Merkel says favours solving solar dispute via talks

Drexel-Penn Partnership to Develop More Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Panels

Microwave ovens may help produce lower cost solar energy technology

ENERGY TECH
Japanese majority favor zero nuclear power

IAEA head says don't relax on nuclear safety

Greens see red after French minister hints at nuclear U-turn

Hundreds join anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo

ENERGY TECH
Waste cooking oil makes bioplastics cheaper

Japan toilet maker showcases 'poop-powered' motorbike

Biorefinery makes use of every bit of a soybean

Warning issued for modified algae

ENERGY TECH
Tiangong Orbit Change Signals Likely Date for Shenzhou 10

China Focus: Timeline for China's space research revealed

China eyes next lunar landing as US scales back

China unveils ambitious space projects

ENERGY TECH
Research reveals contrasting consequences of a warmer Earth

New Nature study illuminates 55 million years of the carbon cycle and climate history

Climate: Could 'Dr. Strangelove' idea be an option?

Storms, drought overshadow UN climate talks




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement