Department of Physics, Unit Catalogue 2006/07

PH30034 Superconductivity & magnetism

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 2

Assessment: EX80CW20

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PH10006 and take PH20017 and take PH20013

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aim of this unit is to explain the basic properties of superconductivity and magnetism, and illustrate contemporary applications of these phenomena. After taking this unit the student should be able to:
* describe the basic properties of superconductors;
* apply fundamental knowledge of superconductors to applications of superconductivity in technology and the research laboratory;
* demonstrate a basic understanding of the origin and types of magnetic order;
* describe and explain the origins of magnetic microstructure;
* explain the magnetisation process and hysteresis;
* describe magneto-optical effects and how magnetism impacts upon transport properties;
* make quantitative estimates of the parameters that govern superconductivity and magnetism.
Content:
Superconductivity (12 lectures): basic phenomenology: critical temperature, zero resistance, critical magnetic field, Meissner effect, penetration depth, coherence length, superfluidity. Two fluid model. Ginsburg-Landau theory. Microscopic theory, Cooper pairs, electron phonon interaction, isotope effect, BCS model and the energy gap. Type I and type II superconductors, vortex states. Applications of type II materials. Tunnelling in superconductors, the Josephson effect, SQUIDS. High Tc superconductivity. Other non-conventional superconductors. Magnetism: (12 lectures): Microscopic origins of magnetism; magnetic ordering: para-, ferro-, anti-ferro and ferri- magnetism; itinerant magnetism; the exchange interaction; Heisenberg model; demagnetising fields and crystalline anisotropy; domains and magnetic microstructure; M-H hysteresis curves, coercivity, soft and hard magnetic materials; dynamic effects (ferromagnetic resonance, spin waves); thin film magnetism; magneto-optical phenomena: Kerr effect and applications; magnetoelectronics and spintronics: spin valves, GMR, applications. Contemporary applications of magnetism.

University | Catalogues for 2006/07