Superconductivity: Japan

✍ Scribed by H. Hirabayashi

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 138 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0011-2275
• DOI: 10.1016/0011-2275(88)90033-1

✦ Synopsis

This is the first report from the Asian Editor on superconductivity in Asia. This article concentrates on Japan; activities in other Asian countries will be reviewed in a subsequent report.

Since March 1987, with the verification of high T~ superconductors, something has happened to superconductivity in Japan. Even before 1986, Japan was one of the leading countries for research and development in superconductivity. For example, Japan has a large number of solid-and liquid-state physicists producing excellent work with superconducting alloys and intermetallic compounds for basic science, and also for applications to industrial devices, such as accelerators, plasma, levitated trains and generators.

From the APS meeting in New York to the 18th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics (LTI8) in Kyoto in 1987, the number of people and companies interested in superconductivity grew by at least one order of magnitude compared with 1986. Until the LT18 meeting, everyone expected the appearance of a material with higher T~ than YBCO. Some still hope for that. However, up to now, there has been no strong evidence of a higher T~ material, such as, a room temperature superconductor.