Silsbee effect

{{short description|Critical current at which a superconductor loses its superconductivity}}

The Silsbee effect or Silsbee current refers to the effect by which, if the electric current through a superconductor exceeds a critical level, the superconducting state will be destroyed.{{cite book|last=Scfalig|first=Eugene|title=Patent US3119076|url=https://www.google.com/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT3119076&id=08pWAAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=%22Silsbee+effect%22&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q=%22Silsbee%20effect%22&f=false|accessdate=24 January 2013|date=29 May 1959}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The size of the critical current (which can be as large as 100 amperes in a 1-mm wire) depends on the nature and geometry of the specimen and is related to whether the magnetic field produced by the current exceeds the critical field at the surface of the superconductor. Solid State Physics. N. W. Ashcroft, N. D. Mermin, 1976, {{ISBN|0030839939}}

The effect is named after Francis B. Silsbee who studied conductivity at low temperatures.{{Cite journal |last=Silsbee |first=F. B. |date=1918 |title=Note on electrical conduction in metals at low temperatures |journal=Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=301 |doi=10.6028/bulletin.335 |issn=0096-8579|doi-access=free }}