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Magnetic flux quantum


The magnetic flux, represented by the symbol Φ, threading some contour or loop is defined as the magnetic field B multiplied by the loop area S, i.e. Φ = BS. Obviously, both B and S can be arbitrary and so is Φ. However, if one deals with the superconducting loop or a hole in a bulk superconductor, it turns out that the magnetic flux threading such a hole/loop is quantized. The (superconducting) magnetic flux quantum Φ0 = h/(2e) ≈ 2.067833831(13)×10−15 Wb is a combination of fundamental physical constants: the Planck constant h and the electron charge e. Its value is, therefore, the same for any superconductor. The phenomenon of flux quantization was discovered experimentally by B. S. Deaver and W. M. Fairbank and, independently, by R. Doll and M. Näbauer, in 1961. The quantization of magnetic flux is closely related to the Little–Parks effect, but was predicted earlier by Fritz London in 1948 using a phenomenological model.

The inverse of the flux quantum, 1/Φ0, is called the Josephson constant, and is denoted KJ. It is the constant of proportionality of the Josephson effect, relating the potential difference across a Josephson junction to the frequency of the irradiation. The Josephson effect is very widely used to provide a standard for high-precision measurements of potential difference, which (since 1990) have been related to a fixed, "conventional" value of the Josephson constant, denoted KJ–90.


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