Re:Heated Debate Rises over Hints of Superconductivity Above...
by willis936 on Sunday April 17, 2022 @09:38AM
(#31060713)
LTS are pretty binary compared to HTS. Look at the resistance vs. temperature plots of different cables at a given current and magnetic field.
Additionally, quench propagation is much slower in HTS so safe current dumping has a lot more time between quench detection and thermal runaway.
Re:Heated Debate Rises over Hints of Superconductivity Above...
by magicalhippo on Sunday April 17, 2022 @11:22AM
(#31061448)
Binary was a poor choice of words I guess.
My point was that if the current material only supports very low current densities at this high temperature, then that restricts the use-cases for it. I feel much of the popular science press makes it sound like all superconductors are equal, apart from the critical temperature.
The temperature, current density and magnetic fields they can tolerate while remaining superconducting varies between the various kinds of superconductors.
Most interesting use-cases outside the lab would involve at least non-trivial current densities, so that's one metric where one might still want to search for a better material even though one already exists.