The numbers that matter

Cryocooler

A closed-cycle refrigerator that keeps a superconductor cold without liquid refills. The colder the conductor, the larger the machine and its power draw. A warmer superconductor means a smaller one.

Why cryocooler matters

It is usually the largest and most power-hungry part of a superconducting system, so the temperature the conductor needs sets the machine's footprint.

Cryocooler in a real conductor

MgB₂Magnesium diboride: two cheap, light, abundant elements that turned out in 2001 to superconduct far warmer than any other simple compound.
NbTiNNiobium nitride with titanium substituted into it, traded for a lower and better-controlled kinetic inductance and a cleaner microwave surface.

Related to cryocooler

SuperMatics is a platform infrastructure company for superconducting devices: software that finds the material and the process, lab work that makes and measures it, and pilot manufacturing with industrial partners.If you have a device and a constraint it has to meet, tell us about it.