Advances in Carbon Nanomaterials: Science and Applications,by Nikos Tagmatarchis

It has recently been realized that there is more than one kind of superconductor, and we now recognize superconducting metals and alloys as being either ‘type-1’ or ‘type-2’. The ‘new’ type-2 superconductors can exist in a state which allows them to carry isrestanceless currents even in very strong magnetic fields, and they are used to construct very powerful electromagnets. This article describes the properties of type-2 superconductors, why very strong magnetic fields are required to drive them normal and why under certain circumstances they can carry large lossless currents.