Technological Applications of Superconductivity

Some of the technological applications of superconductivity include:

• the production of sensitive magnetometers based on SQUIDs
• fast digital circuits (including those based on Josephson junctions and rapid single flux quantum technology),
• powerful superconducting electromagnets used in maglev trains, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) machines, magnetic confinement fusion reactors (e.g. tokamaks), and the beam-steering and focusing magnets used in particle accelerators
• low-loss power cables
• RF and microwave filters (e.g., for mobile phone base stations, as well as military ultra-sensitive/selective receivers)
• fast fault current limiters
• high sensitivity particle detectors, including the transition edge sensor, the superconducting bolometer, the superconducting tunnel junction detector, the kinetic inductance detector, and the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector
• railgun and coilgun magnets
• electric motors and generators