Uranium rhodium germanium
Encyclopedia
Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory, published in August, 2005's issue of Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, that uranium rhodium germanium (URhGe) is the first discovered metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

 that becomes superconducting in the presence of an extremely strong electromagnetic field
Electromagnetic field
An electromagnetic field is a physical field produced by moving electrically charged objects. It affects the behavior of charged objects in the vicinity of the field. The electromagnetic field extends indefinitely throughout space and describes the electromagnetic interaction...

. Very unlike other superconducting materials, whose superconducting properties can be lost due to strong magnetic fields, uranium rhodium germanium actually regains superconducting abilities at about 8 teslas
Tesla (unit)
The tesla is the SI derived unit of magnetic field B . One tesla is equal to one weber per square meter, and it was defined in 1960 in honour of the inventor, physicist, and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla...

.

Process

URhGe's critical temperature (Tc) is normally about 280 millikelvins.

The Grenoble team in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, headed by Andrew D. Huxley
Andrew D. Huxley
Andrew D. Huxley is a chair of the physics department of Edinburgh University. Of no relation to Sir Andrew F. Huxley , Prof. Andrew D. Huxley is of renown in the field of condensed matter physics...

, first cooled down the sample below its critical temperature and raised the magnetic field to 2 T. As expected, the sample's superconducting properties vanished. However, when the team raised the magnetic field to 8 T, the superconducting behavior continued. The critical temperature at that field strength increased to about 400 millikelvins. The sample retained the superconducting state until 13 T. They also found that at 12 T, the URhGe sample experienced a magnetic phase transition
Phase transition
A phase transition is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase or state of matter to another.A phase of a thermodynamic system and the states of matter have uniform physical properties....

.

External links

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