• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.61-70
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• 2023

This paper examines the way of thinking and limitations of physicists regarding the phenomenon of superconductivity and outlines how room-temperature and ambient-pressure superconductors can be developed through the statistical thermodynamic background of the liquid state theory. In hypothesis, the number of electron states should be limited by confining them to a state close to one-Dimension. Simultaneously, the electron-electron interactions should be frequent enough for the electrons to have liquid-like properties. As an example of implementing the hypothesis, our team reports the development of room-temperature and ambient-pressure superconductivity of a material named LK-99 (superconducting compound name developed in the research), whose structure was revealed through numerous experiments with a clue found by chance. Moreover, we summarize the theoretical and experimental basis for the characteristics and discovery of the world's first superconducting material surpassing the critical temperature of 97℃ at atmospheric pressure.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1996 no.11
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• pp.142-146
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• 1996

In this paper, we present the main research results on the 2 Tesla class - superconducting MRI magnet which we have developed. Multi section type superconducting MRI main coil and various superconducting shims were designed and fabricated for obtaining the high field homogeneity, which is requested in the MR imaging. After assembling the magnet with room temperature bore cryostat field homogenity has been measured and analyzed by NMR field mapping system. According to this, field homogeneity of 22 ppm / 30 cm dsv was confirmed.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.9-12
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• 2015

NbN thin films were deposited on thermally oxidized Si substrate at room temperature by using reactive magnetron sputtering in an $Ar-N_2$ gas mixture. Total sputtering gas pressure was fixed while varying $N_2$ flow rate from 1.4 sccm to 2.9 sccm. X-ray diffraction pattern analysis revealed dominant NbN(200) orientation in the low $N_2$ flow rate but emerging of (111) orientation with diminishing (200) orientation at higher flow rate. The dependences of the superconducting properties on the $N_2$ gas flow rate were investigated. All the NbN thin films showed a small negative temperature coefficient of resistance with resistivity ratio between 300 K and 20 K in the range from 0.98 to 0.89 as the $N_2$ flow rate is increased. Transition temperature showed non-monotonic dependence on $N_2$ flow rate reaching as high as 11.12 K determined by the mid-point temperature of the transition with transition width of 0.3 K. On the other hand, the upper critical field showed roughly linear increase with $N_2$ flow rate up to 2.7 sccm. The highest upper critical field extrapolated to 0 K was 17.4 T with corresponding coherence length of 4.3 nm. Our results are discussed with the granular nature of NbN thin films.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.1-4
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• 2016

To observe the superconducting current and structural properties of high critical temperature ($T_c$) superconductors (HTS), we suggest the following imaging methods: Room temperature imaging (RTI) through thermal heating, low-temperature bolometric microscopy (LTBM) and Raman scattering imaging. RTI and LTBM images visualize thermal-electric voltages as different thermal gradients at room temperature (RT) and superconducting current dissipation at near-$T_c$, respectively. Using RTI, we can obtain structural information about the surface uniformity and positions of impurities. LTBM images show the flux flow in two dimensions as a function of the local critical currents. Raman imaging is transformed from Raman survey spectra in particular areas, and the Raman vibration modes can be combined. Raman imaging can quantify the vibration modes of the areas. Therefore, we demonstrate the spatial transport properties of superconducting materials by combining the results. In addition, this enables visualization of the effect of current flow on the distribution of impurities in a uniform superconducting crystalline material. These imaging methods facilitate direct examination of the local properties of superconducting materials and wires.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.21-25
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• 2014

In order to develop 2nd generation (2G) high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wires as commercial products, it is necessary to perform a high speed investigation of their superconducting performance. Room-temperature and non-contact optical scanning tools are necessary to verify the microstructure of the superconducting materials, the current flow below the critical temperature, and the critical current density. In this paper, we report our results of an inspection of the electrical transport properties of coated conductors. The samples that we used in our study were highly qualified rare-earth based coated conductors produced via co-evaporation, and $SmBa_2Cu_3O_{7-y}$ (SmBCO) was the superconducting materials used in our studies. A film grown on IBAD-MgO templates shows larger than 400 A/cm at 77 K and a self-field. The local transport properties of the films were investigated by room-temperature imaging by thermal heating. The room-temperature images show structural inhomogeneities on the surface of the films. Bolometric response imaging via low-temperature bolometric microscopy was used to construct the local current mapping at the surface. These results indicate that the non-uniform regions on the surface disturb the current flow, and laser scanning images at room-temperature and at a low-temperature suggest a correlation between the structural properties and transport properties. Thus this method can be effective to evaluate the quality of the coated conductors.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2000

A 40-channel superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) system was constructed for measuring neuromagnetic fields. Main features of the system are the use of double relaxation oscillation SQUIDs (DROSs), and planar gradiometers measuring magnetic field components tangential to the head surface. The DROSs with high flux-to-voltage transfers enabled direct readout of the SQUID output by room-temperature dc preamplifiers and simple flux-locked loop circuits could be used for SQUID operation. The pickup coil is an integrated first-order planar gradiometer with a baseline of 40 mm. Average noise level of the 40 channels is around 1.2 $fT/cm/{\surd}Hz$ at 100 Hz, corresponding to a field noise of 5 $fT/{\surd}Hz$, operated inside a magnetically shielded room. The SQUID insert was designed to have low thermal load, minimizing the loss of liquid helium. The constructed system was applied to measure auditory-evoked neuromagnetic fields.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.10-13
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• 2023

To confirm the room-temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure as claimed in recent arXiv preprints by Lee et al., we followed the original authors' systematic solid-state synthesis recipe to reproduce Cu-doped Pb-apatite, known as LK-99. Using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, we identified inclusion of various impurities alongside the apatite phase in our sample. While the sample exhibited an overall semiconducting behavior in electrical transport, an intriguing resistivity anomaly at 380 K was observed, possibly originating from a structural phase transition of the Cu_2-δS impurity. Based on the transport and magnetization measurements, we conclude that the sample is a non-magnetic semiconductor, with absence of superconductivity.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Applied Superconductivity and Cryogenics Conference
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• 2001.02a
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• pp.121-124
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• 2001

The research results on the superconducting magnet for whole body MRI are presented. The magnet consists of main coil with 6 solenoid coils, shielding coil with 2 solenoid coils and 6 sets of cryogenic shim coil. The ferromagnetic shim assembly is installed on the inside wall of the room temperature bore for shimming inhomogeneous field components generated due to manufacturing tolerances, installation misalignments and external ferromagnetic materials near the magnet. Also, the magnet is enclosed with the horizontal type cryostat with 80cm room temperature bore to keep the magnet under the operating temperature. The magnetic field distributions within the imaging volume were measured by the NMR field mapping system. Through the test, the central field of magnet was 1.5 Tesla and the field homogeneity of 9.3 ppm has been obtained on 40cm DSV(the diameter of spherical volume) and using this magnet, comparatively good images for human body, fruits and water phantoms have been achieved.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Applied Superconductivity and Cryogenics Conference
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• 2003.02a
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• pp.239-241
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• 2003

When superconductors are combined with normal conductor as a parallel electric circuit, imbalance of the applied current is happened. For the accurate parameters of the circuit, it is needed to measure the current of the circuit under LN2 condition. In this case, the measurement using Rogowski coil, which is not that affected by changing temperature, can be a method. In this study, using 2 Rogowski coil, the measurement of current was conducted under the condition that is room and LN2 temperature respectively.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.128-132
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• 2009

Polycrystalline samples of $(Ru_{0.8}Nb_{0.2})Sr_2(Gd_{1.5-x}Nd_xCe_{0.5})Cu_2O_z$($ 0{\leq}x{\leq}1.25$) have been synthesized by a solid-state reaction route. The X-ray diffraction data revealed that the Nd solubility limit can be placed between x=0.5 and x=0.75. The superconducting transition temperature decreased with increasing Nd content, confirming that Nd entered the lattice. Room-temperature thermoelectric power measurements showed that all the samples are in the underdoped state and the partial substitution of Nd for Gd resulted in a decrease in the carrier density on the superconducting layers.