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Schedule for this lecture.
Goddard Space Flight Center Engineering Colloquium
Date: Monday, November 2, 1998
High temperature superconductivity has been considered to be one of the most exciting discoveries in modern physics. During the 12 years after its discovery, great progress has been made in all areas of high temperature superconductivity science and technology. More than 150 high temperature superconducting compounds have been found with a record transition temperature of 134K at ambient and 164K under pressure, a temperature that can be readily achieved in space by passive cooling. Theoretical models have been proposed to account for some of the observations made on these compounds, and prototype devices have been constructed from these compounds and tested successfully. n spite of the impressive progress made, no comprehensive microscopic theory exists, and commercialization remains beyond our reach. In this presentation, I shall review some of the advancements achieved and point out some of the challenges ahead in high temperature superconductivity science and technology.
Paul C. W.Chu is the T. L. L. Temple Chair of Science, Professor of Physics, andDirector of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University ofHouston. He received his BS degree from Cheng-Kung University inTaiwan, his MS degree from Fordham University in New York, and his Ph.D.degree from the University of California at San Diego. In early January1987, Chu's research group detected superconductivity at about -297 ° F, above the liquid nitrogen temperature (-321 ° F), in an impure and unstable sample. Two weeks later, he, his former student Mau-Kuen Wu, and their colleagues achieved stable superconductivity at -270 ° F. Later, in 1993, they again observed stable superconductivity under pressure at a new record-high temperature of -164 °F. Chu's research interests include superconductivity, magnetism, and dielectrics. Chu has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science, the InternationalPrize for New Materials, the Comstock Award, Texas Instruments' Founders'Prize, and the Bernd Matthias Prize. He is a member of the NationalAcademy of Sciences; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the ChineseAcademy of Sciences in Beijing, People's Republic of China; the Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; and the Third World Academy of Sciences. He has received honorary doctorates from a dozen universities.
Colloquium Committee Sponsor: Brent Warner
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