Superconductivity, besides being a complex and fascinating phenomenon with a variety of applications, appears to offer scientific blooming somewhat unexpected and continues to call major interest both for its fundamental physical aspects as well for its prospective impact on technology. After the discovery of superconductivity in the cuprates and the outburst of research activity that it generated in the last two decades, a key issue of fundamental character has continued to be the understanding of mechanisms for unconventional superconductivity, still under debate in spite of the relevant advances in research and development that have been achieved.

Meanwhile other new superconductors have emerged, including ruthenates, cobaltates, borides, borocarbides, doped fullerene and intercalated graphite, organic and heavy-fermion superconductors, accompanied by deep characterization of their physical properties by means of a variety of experimental approaches and by successful applications for wires, tapes, processing in electronics and in novel nano-structured technologies.

Furthermore in very recent times a novel family of unconventional superconductors has been discovered and has stimulated strong scientific interest: the Fe-based pnictides REFeAsO, MFe2As2, Fe(SeTe), where high-Tc superconductivity is occurring without the Cu ions (characteristic element in cuprates) and in the presence of Fe ions, in turn suggesting that magnetic interactions are the essential ingredients for the underlaying microscopic mechanism.

This Conference follows those on the analogous topics in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006, organized in the frame of CIMTEC. On one side it will highlight the progresses achieved along the last years in the various issues of fundamental and technological character of the already known superconducting materials. On another side, the Conference will be focused on the recently discovered materials, their characterization, synthesis and processing and the prospective applications. Following the mission of the previous conferences of this type, the focus will be on novel aspects, issues and systems, but attention will be paid as well to all superconducting-related topics, including fundamental aspects of theory, advances in synthesis, functionalization and processing and the latest progresses in the areas of the devices at small scale and large scale ranges.

Session Topics

FK-1 Materials, structure, physical chemistry and general properties

FK-2 New superconductors of the pnictides families

FK-3 Properties of superconductors (of any type)

FK-4 Theory and mechanisms ( for normal and superconducting states)

FK-5 Vortex lattice physics

FK-6 Synthesis and processing

FK-7 Power applications

FK-8 Low power applications and superconducting electronics

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