Types I and II Superconductors

There are thirty pure metals which exhibit zero resistivity at low temperatures and have the property of excluding magnetic fields from the interior of the superconductor (Meissner effect). They are called Type I superconductors. The superconductivity exists only below their critical temperatures and below a critical magnetic field strength. Type I superconductors are well described by the BCS theory.

Starting in 1930 with lead-bismuth alloys, a number of alloys were found which exhibited superconductivity; they are called Type II superconductors. They were found to have much higher critical fields and therefore could carry much higher current densities while remaining in the superconducting state.

The variations on barium-copper-oxide ceramics which achieved the superconducting state at much higher temperatures are often just referred to as high temperature superconductors and form a class of their own. 

Type I Superconductors

The 27 pure metals listed in the table below are called Type I superconductors. The identifying characteristics are zero electrical resistivity below a critical temperature, zero internal magnetic field (Meissner effect), and a critical magnetic field above which superconductivity ceases.

The superconductivity in Type I superconductors is modeled well by the BCS theory which relies upon electron pairs coupled by lattice vibration interactions. Remarkably, the best conductors at room temperature (gold, silver, and copper) do not become superconducting at all. They have the smallest lattice vibrations, so their behavior correlates well with the BCS Theory. While instructive for understanding superconductivity, the Type I superconductors have been of limited practical usefulness because the critical magnetic fields are so small and the superconducting state disappears suddenly at that temperature. Type I superconductors are sometimes called "soft" superconductors while the Type II are "hard", maintaining the superconducting state to higher temperatures and magnetic fields.

Mat. Tc (K) Rh 0 W 0.015 Be** 0.026 Ir 0.1 Lu 0.1 Hf 0.1 Ru 0.5 Os 0.7 Mo 0.92 Zr 0.546 Cd 0.56 U 0.2 Ti 0.39 Zn 0.85 Ga 1.083

Mat. Tc (K) Gd* 1.1 Al 1.2 Pa 1.4 Th 1.4 Re 1.4 Tl 2.39 In 3.408 Sn 3.722 Hg 4.153 Ta 4.47 La 6.00 Pb 7.193

*Gd at T_c=1.1 is questionable. Source is Rohlf, Ch 15, but this may be a misprint. Ga has T_c about 1.1, so Ga value may have been attributed to Gd.
**"Superconductivity of Hexagonal Beryllium'" R.L. Falge Jr., Physics Letters A 24 1967.

Note also the three metals at right which were formerly included as Type I superconductors in the above table, but have been shown to exhibit Type II properties.

Mat. Tc V 5.38 Tc 7.77 Nb 9.46

Type II Superconductors

Superconductors made from alloys are called Type II superconductors. Besides being mechanically harder than Type I superconductors, they exhibit much higher critical magnetic fields. Type II superconductors such as niobium-titanium (NbTi) are used in the construction of high field superconducting magnets. Type-II superconductors usually exist in a mixed state of normal and superconducting regions. This is sometimes called a vortex state, because vortices of superconducting currents surround filaments or cores of normal material.