Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide

Superconductors are a class of material that exhibit zero electrical resistance when a current is applied through them. Normally when a current is passed through a wire, charged particles (typically electrons) experience barriers to their motion, causing energy loss. This means that we lose 10-15% of electricity between a power station and a typical home. For superconductors no zero electrical resistance occurs and so no energy loss occurs. This means that they can be used to levitate magnets by inducing eddy currents that can flow forever as long as the material is superconducting. In an age where energy loss is a major issue, there is clearly huge interest in a material that can transfer electrical power without an energy penalty. A major limitation, however, is that this material can only display this phenomenon below a critical temperature; in the best instance this is around -180 ̊C, preventing them from being used feasibly in most applications. Though this is the case, research is now underway to develop the ability to achieve this output with a raised critical temperature.