Announcements
Please check for current updates
Last update - June 19, 2009

• 14th International Conference on RF Superconductivity June 18, 2009 (A92)
• The German National Cryoelectronic Workshop, KRYO 2009 June 12, 2009 (A91)
• The 6th FLUXONICS RSFQ Design Workshop May 28, 2009 (A90)
• The 2nd EUROFLUX International Conference: Abstract Deadline Extended Until June 21st, 2009 June 2, 2009 (A89)
• The 2nd EUROFLUX International Conference: Abstract Deadline is June 1st, 2009 May 27, 2009 (A88)
• International Workshop on Low-temperature Detectors, LTD-13 May 19, 2009 (A87)
• 4th Braunschweig Superconductivity Seminar: Additional Information  April 5, 2009 (A86)
• IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives Conference March 21, 2009 (A84)
• International Workshop on Nanomagnetism and Superconductivity March 09, 2009 (A80)
• The 7th International Symposium on Noninvasive Functional Source Imaging of the Brain and Heart (NFSI) and the 7th International Conference on Bioelectromagnetism (ICBEM) to Be Held in Rome March 4, 2009 (A79)
• World Congress in Medical Physics and Bioengineering to Be Held in Munich March 3, 2009 (A78)
• Reports on Progress in Physics: 2008 Highlights February 3, 2009 (A71)
• Nanoscience and Engineering in Superconductivity Conference January 30, 2009 (A70)
• First International Perinatal Biomagnetism Workshop to Be Held in Chieti January 26, 2009 (A67)
• The 2nd EUROFLUX International Conference to Be Held at Avignon (Updated Info) January 23, 2009 (A66)
• VORTEX VI to be held on Rhodes, Greece January 21, 2009 (A63)
• 2nd International Youth Conference on Energetics to be Held in Budapest January 6, 2009 (A62)
• 9th EUCAS Conference Announcement (Call for Papers) January 5, 2009 (A60)
• German Physical Society Spring Meeting 2009 – Condensed Matter December 1, 2008 (A58 )
• The 12th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC 2009) to Be Held in Fukuoka,Japan. November 1, 2008 (A57)
• INTERMAG 2009 to Be Held in Sacramento, CA September 13, 2008 (A53)
• EU Call for Proposals - HTS devices for electricity networks September 11, 2008 (A52)
• First Announcement of EUCAS 2009 Released August 26, 2008 (A50)
• Proceedings of the XIII Polish National School of Superconductivity
  May 8th, 2008 (A40)
• Lectures on Superconductivity Available Online March 29, 2008 (A36)
• Proceedings of EUCAS 2007 Papers Accessible Online March 20, 2008 (A34)
• Highlights of New Journal of Physics March 3, 2008 (A32)
• Free Access to Selected 2008 Superconductor Science and Technology Articles February 15, 2007 (A30)
• New EU Seventh Framework “S-PULSE” December 21, 2007 (A24)
• Russian Bulletin on Superconductors in Electric Power Industry May 28. 2007 (A7)
• Reorganization of Some French Laboratories Active in Superconductivity April 30, 2007 (A4)
• New Profile of IPTH-Jena April 18, 2007 (A3)
• European Superconductivity News Forum– Results of the Poll March 17, 2007 (A1)

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14th International Conference on RF Superconductivity

June 18, 2009 (A92)  The 14th International Conference on RF Superconductivity (SRF2009) will be held from Sept. 20 to 25, 2009 at the dbb Forum in Berlin, Germany, within walking distance of the famed Checkpoint Charlie. The Conference will be hosted by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (formerly BESSY) and the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf.  The new "Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy" is the result of the BESSY merger with the Hahn-Meitner-Institute.

Impressive advances in superconducting RF science and technology over the last three decades are responsible for a dramatic increase of SRF installations world-wide. RF superconductivity now is the key technology of many accelerators for particle physics, nuclear physics and, increasingly, light sources. The European Free-Electron Laser and the recently commissioned Spallation Neutron Source are examples of the various applications of SRF.

SRF 2009 will cover the latest advances in the science, technology, and applications of superconducting RF. The program consists of invited review talks, poster sessions and “hot-topic” discussion sessions.  A special emphasis will be placed on providing a forum for student researchers to present their results.  Special tutorials will be held from Sept. 17 – 19 in Dresden. They are designed to provide an in-depth overview of SRF related subjects for scientists and engineers new to the field, or those who simply want a refresher.

The Conference website http://www.helmholtz-berlin.de/events/srf2009/ contains or will contain all the information on registration, abstract submission, program, venue, hotels, travel information, etc.  The important dates are:

• Early registration dedline:                   August 1st, 2009 (no student rates after this date)
• Abstract submission deadline:           August 1st, 2009
• Hotel reservation deadline:                 August 21st, 2009.

Proceedings of the Conference are planned as an online publication at the Joint Accelerator Conference Website (JACoW): http://accelconf.web.cern.ch/AccelConf/.

The 6th FLUXONICS RSFQ Design Workshop

May 28, 2009 (A90)  The 6th FLUXONICS RSFQ Design Workshop will be held From July 26th to 29th, 2009, as usual at the Ilmenau University of Technology (IUT), Ilmenau, Germany.  The organizers are Drs. Hannes Töpfer and Thomas Ortlepp, both of IUT.
This annual workshop is offered to those who wish to become familiar with the basics of design and simulation of superconducting electronic circuits, and the development of new applications.  This year’s event features two distinguished RSFQ researchers: - Prof. Akira Fujimaki, Nagoya University, Japan and
- Prof. Vasili Semenov, Stony Brook University, USA,
who will share their experience with the workshop participants.  The aim of this year’s workshop is to discuss recent developments and future activities in the field of RSFQ circuit design, with particular emphasis on translating scientific knowledge into industrial applications.
The flyer of the Workshop, which contains all the details, travel information, etc., can be found here.   The website of the RSFQ Design Group is: http://www.tu-ilmenau.de/it_tet_kryo/; see also http://www.s-pulse.eu.  Registration via e-mail is preferred and encouraged: Thomas.ortlepp@tu-ilmenau.de.  Hotel reservations can be made at: http://www.hotel-tanne-thueringen.de or http://www.hotel-lindenhof.de.

The 2nd EUROFLUX International Conference: Abstract Deadline Extended Until June 21st, 2009

June 2, 2009 (A89)  The 2nd EUROFLUX International Conference will be held at Avignon, France, from September 20th to 23rd, 2009, see Announcement A66.  Today, the organizers extended the abstracts submission deadline until June 21st, 2009. Other important deadlines are:

• Early-bird registration deadline: July 3rd, 2009
• Late registration deadline: September 20th, 2009.

The conference webpage is http://www.euroflux.org.  The 3nd Announcement of this conference can be also viewed here.  

The 2nd EUROFLUX International Conference: Abstract Deadline is June 1st, 2009

May 27, 2009 (A88)  The 2nd EUROFLUX International Conference will be held at Avignon, France, from September 20th to 23rd, 2009, see Announcement A66.  This is a last-minute remainder: the abstracts submission deadline, June 1st, 2009, is approaching. Other important deadlines are:

• Early-bird registration deadline: July 3rd, 2009
• Late registration deadline: September 20th, 2009.

The conference webpage is http://www.euroflux.org.  The 2nd Announcement of this conference can be also viewed here.

International Workshop on Low-temperature Detectors, LTD-13

May 19, 2009 (A87).  The 13th International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors, LTD-13, will be held at Stanford University at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory on July 20th through July 24th, 2009. Stanford is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, near San Francisco, CA, USA.  This workshop is the thirteenth in a series of conferences occurring every two years that brings together scientists from all over the world to present the latest results and new ideas in the development of cryogenic radiation and particle detectors.

Superconducting detectors and readout circuits represent usually a significant fraction of covered topics, and will be prominently present in this year’s program.  In addition, presentations will include the application of these new technologies in the many fields ranging from particle physics and astrophysics to biology and medicine.  The preliminary program can be viewed at:
http://ltd-13.stanford.edu/20090514_LTD13_program.pdf. 

Proceedings of the workshop are published, but do not have a regular home at a specific journal.  Proceedings of LTD-12 (2007) appeared in J. Low Temp. Phys. 151, No.  1- 4 (April and May) 2008.  Proceedings of LTD-13 will be published as part of the AIP Conference Proceedings. These (peer reviewed) proceedings will be available in three formats: on the Web, on CD, and in traditional book format.

The deadline for abstract submission was April 15, 2009.  Late registration opened on May 1st, 2009.  To register, go to: http://ltd13.stanford.edu/registration.html

IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives Conference

March 21, 2009 (A84).  The International Electric Machines and Drives Conference will be held in Miami, Florida USA May 3-6, 2009. This major International Conference is sponsored by IEEE Power & Energy Society, IEEE Industry Applications Society, The IEEE Power Electronics Society and the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society. The conference theme this year is “Renewable Energy Systems for Today and Tomorrow”.  We announce it here, because the year’s theme should encompass also superconducting generators and motors, and, in any event, it is a reference meeting for members of our community working on superconducting machines .

The Conference will feature daily plenary on Large Wind Integration into the Power Grid, Electric Drives for Aerospace Applications and Hybrid Electric Drives. About 300 peer reviewed papers will be presented in 36 oral sessions and more than 30 interactive poster sessions. A large scientific/industrial/Sponsorship exhibition will be conducted during the three full days of the conference. Also a number of tutorials are planned on May 3, 2009.
The deadline for advance conference registration for participants is March 31, 2009 at the reduced rates.  To register click http://www.iemdc2009.org/index.php?pid=101.
Furthermore, a significantly reduced room rates at the headquarters hotel, the Hilton Miami Downtown, are available on first come first served basis. The hotel conference rates are available three days before and three days after the conference dates: (http://www.iemdc2009.org/index.php?pid=9).

The conference official e-mail contact is: secretariat@iemdc2009.org. Further details can also be obtained from the Conference General Chair at Chair@iemdc2009.org. If you are interested in receiving further information about the conference and its technical program, please register an account on the conference website at http://www.iemdc2009.org .

Papers accepted and presented during the conference will be published in IEEE Xplore and be cited in EI (Engineering Index).

4th Braunschweig Superconductivity Seminar

March 20, 2009 (A83).  The Carolo-Wilhelmina University of Braunschweig and the company PerCoTech AG organize the 4th Braunschweig Superconductivity Seminar to be held on 12th and 13th of May 2009 in Braunschweig, Germany.  The lead theme of this seminar is “Superconductivity: Application and Fabrication – a Dialog”.  This is a national event held essentially in German.  It is co-sponsored be the energy provider E.On, the ”iv Supra” Association, Siemens, and VDE (Association of German Engineers).
The purpose of the seminar is to provide a common discussion platform to potential users and producers of superconducting devices and systems.  The main questions asked are:

• What are the application possibilities for superconductivity technology?
• What requirements the devices and systems must meet to be used?
• What economical and political boundary conditions are essential for the implementation of superconductivity technology?

There is no website for this event.  The program, venue, hotel and organizer information in German, are provided here.  There is no registration fee, but informal prior registration (no form to fill) is required at: al.henning@tu-bs.de, or by fax: +49 (531) 391-8106.

International Workshop on Nanomagnetism and Superconductivity

March 09, 2009 (A80).  The International Workshop on Nanomagnetism and Superconductivity “Coma-ruga-2009” will be held at the village of Coma-ruga, Spain, located about 70 km south of Barcelona, directly on one of Spain’s most famous beaches of the Costa Daurada (Tarragona) region.  The Workshop will start on Sunday July 5, and continue through Thursday, July 9, 2009.  It will be the fifth Workshop of the series.

The official part of the Workshop will consist of about 30 invited talks and a poster session.  Topics include all aspects of nanomagnetic and superconducting research: molecular magnets, spintronics, spin and SQUID based quantum computing, novel magnetic and superconducting phases, low-dimensional systems, etc.

No registration fee is anticipated.  However, participants will be responsible for their travel and living expenses.  All information and the registration form are available at: http://www.ub.edu/gmag/comaruga/.  No deadline for registration is announced.  Hotel reservations should be made as soon as possible, directly at the conference hotel Hotel Marvel Coma-ruga by email to: reserves@marvelcomarruga.com, attention of Mr. Victor Blanch.  The partial list of invited speakers is already posted.

The 7th International Symposium on Noninvasive Functional Source Imaging of the Brain and Heart (NFSI) and the 7th International Conference on Bioelectromagnetism (ICBEM) to Be Held in Rome

March 4, 2009 (A79).  The 7th International Symposium on Noninvasive Functional Source Imaging of the Brain and Heart (NFSI) and the 7th International Conference on Bioelectromagnetism (ICBEM) will be held in Rome, Italy, from May 29th to 31st, 2009.  We announce this joint event here (alas belatedly), because topics of both meetings involve the application of superconducting sensors (SQUIDs).  The deadline for submissions is now extended until March 10th, 2009.  All the pertinent information can be found at the event’s website www.ptsroma.it/nfsicbem2009.  

World Congress in Medical Physics and Bioengineering to Be Held in Munich.

March 3, 2009 (A78).  The World Congress in Medical Physics and Bioengineering will be held in Munich, Germany.  We announce it here, because one of the main topical categories “Diagnostic Imaging” includes biomagnetic imaging by superconducting sensor (SQUID) systems.  All the pertinent information can be found at http://www.wc2009.org/World-Congress-2009/Pages/Home.aspx.  The important (extended) deadlines include:

• Submission deadline for papers: April 15, 2009 (full paper of 2-4 pages only, to be included in the Proceedings).
• Submission deadline for oral presentations: May 15, 2009 (abstracts of 50-300 words only, no inclusion in the Proceedings) .
• Submission deadline for posters: July 15, 2009 (abstracts of 50-300 words only, no inclusion in the Proceedings).
• Early registration deadline: July 15, 2009.

Thus far, over 2000 submissions were received.

Reports on Progress in Physics: 2008 Highlights

February 3, 2009 (A71).  The IOP journal Reports on Progress in Physics made accessible their annual selection of 2008 article highlights.  These articles (full text) are now accessible and can be downloaded free-of-charge until the end of 2009.  We recommend the whole excellent selection to interested readers.  To read the highlights, click on: http://herald.iop.org/reportsonphysicsinprogresshighlights2008/m191/zea/132364/link/2291.
This selection of 10 papers includes two articles discussing the high-T_c problem.  Click here to read their abbreviated abstracts.

Nanoscience and Engineering in Superconductivity Conference

January 30, 2009 (A70).  The European Science Foundation (ESF) Research Networking Program on Nanoscience and Engineering in Superconductivity (NES) organizes a conference on “Nanoscience and Engineering in Superconductivity, Hybrid and Josephson Structures”.  This ESF-NES meeting will be held on Anacapri, Italy, from June 3 to 6, 2009.  Only preliminary information is currently available at http://www.fisica.unina.it/congr/NES2009/

The local Organizing Committee includes: Antonio Barone (University of Napoli Federico II), Francesco Tafuri (Second University of Napoli), Arturo Tagliacozzo (University of Napoli Federico II) and Andrei Varlamov (CNR-INFM).   Main topics of the meeting will be:

- Josephson and Hybrid Structures
- Macroscopic Quantum Effects
- Superconducting Elements for Quantum Computing
- Nanoengineered Pinning Arrays
- Nanoscale Imaging
- Vortices in Mesoscopic Superconductors,
- High-T_c Cuprates
- Coherent Nanoelectronics

First International Perinatal Biomagnetism Workshop to Be Held in Chieti

January 26, 2009 (A67).  Although only marginally related to the field of superconductivity, we announce here the 1st International Workshop on the Clinical Usefulness of Biomagnetism in Perinatal Medicine “Perinatal Biomagnetism 2009”.  The Workshop will be held at Chieti University, Italy, on April 4, 2009. For further information, please visit the workshop website at http://pb2009.udanet.it .  The deadline for abstracts is January 30, 2009.  The Workshop organizers are Profs. Sylvia Comani (Chieti Univ.)) and Janette Strasburger (med. College of Wisconsin, USA).

Perinatal includes both fetal and neonatal medicine.  The noninvasive biomagnetic diagnostics is especially useful in perinatal heart and brain problems.  The call for abstracts is addressed not only to clinical specialists, but also to biomedical physicists and engineers, which is the reason we announce it here, a few days before the deadline.  [See A69 and A72 for updates.]

The 2nd EUROFLUX International Conference to Be Held at Avignon

January 23, 2009 (A66) The 2nd EUROFLUX International Conference will be held at Avignon, France, from September 20th to 23rd, 2009. The aim of this Conference, organized under auspices of the European S-PULSE project is to disseminate knowledge to interested industry and research laboratories in three sub-domains: Digital Electronics, Superconducting Sensors and Microwave Devices & Systems.  Conference topics will include:

• LTS and HTS junctions
• SQUIDs and SQUID applications
• Radiation detectors at quantum limit
• Digital applications
• Microwave devices
• Metrology devices.

The conference webpage is http://www.euroflux.org.  Important deadlines are:

• Abstracts submission deadline: June 1st, 2009
• Early-bird registration deadline: July 3rd, 2009
• Late registration deadline: September 20th, 2009.

VORTEX VI to be held on Rhodes, Greece

• Superconductivity at Nanoscale
• Nano-engineered Pinning Arrays
• Nanoscale Imaging
• Vortices in Mesoscopic Superconductors
• Superconductor/Ferromagnet Hybrids
• High T_c cuprates, MgB2 and Oxypnictides
• Vortex Dynamics, Driven Vortex Lattices, Ratchets
• Josephson Junctions and their Arrays
• Superconducting Elements for Quantum Computing
• Vortices in Bose –Einstein Condensates
• Optical Vortices
• Vortices in Superfluid Helium

The Conference will continue the tradition of five previous successful VORTEX Conferences and will be organized in the same spirit.   The fee for participant is €1200 (single room) and €1060 /pp (double room), including hotel and full board. The three important deadlines are:

• Abstract Submission: June 12, 2009
   
• Notification of acceptance: June 26, 2009
   
• Payment: July 17, 2009.

All other details and registration forms can be found at the VORTEX VI website: http://fys.kuleuven.be/vortex6.

2nd International Youth Conference on Energetics to be Held in Budapest

January 6, 2009 (A62).  We were informed that the 2nd International Youth Conference on Energetics will be held in Budapest, Hungary, June 4th to 6th, 2009.  It is organized by a “Student Association of Energy” at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and it offers students (Master and Ph.D. level) and young professionals the opportunity to present their contributions.  The call for papers can be found at: http://www.iyce2009.org/index.php?l=en&p=call_for_papers.  

The abstract deadline is January 23, 2009. One of the topics listed in the call for papers is “Power Engineering/Applications of Superconductors”.  Superconductivity is also relevant to several other topics listed in that call. All the information on this conference can be found at its website: www.iyce2009.org

9th EUCAS Conference Announcement (Call for Papers)

January 5, 2009 (A60).  The 9th European Conference on Applied Superconductivity will be held in Dresden, Germany, from September 13th to 17th, 2009.  The full Conference Announcement can be found here.

The conference will include plenary and invited talks as well as contributed oral and poster presentations in all areas of applied superconductivity. A complete list of submission categories can be found in the attached announcement or at the conference website: http://www.eucas2009.eu. 

Interested authors are requested to submit an abstract. All abstracts must be submitted electronically. The online abstract submission is now available at the Conference website.  Please note the ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE is MARCH 15, 2009.

Further information on presentation and publication, important dates, conference registration, hotel reservation and the conference venue will all be available at www.eucas2009.eu

German Physical Society Spring Meeting 2009 – Condensed Matter

December 1, 2008 (A58 ). The German Physical Society (DPG) Spring Meeting 2009, devoted to condensed matter physics will be held in Dresden, Germany, from 22 to 27th of March 2009.  This meeting traditionally includes low-temperature physics and superconductivity (Division TT).  In recent years, abstracts and most presentations were in English, with some invites speakers from other European countries and overseas.

The 2009 meeting will be hosted by Technical University Dresden (TU Dresden).  The address is: TU Dresden, Campus Südvorstadt, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
All information on the meeting (in German) can be found at: http://dresden09.dpg-tagungen.de/index.html or for the English version.  The important deadlines are:

• Abstract deadline:                             January 12, 2009
• Early registration deadline:             February 10, 2009
• Hotel deadline:                                  February 24, 2009

The 12th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC 2009) to Be Held in Fukuoka,Japan.

November 1, 2008 (A57).  The 12th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC 2009) will be held from June 16 to 19, 2009 at the Centennial Hall, Kyushu University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.  The Conference Chairman is Prof. Keiji Enpuku, the Program Chair is Prof. Akira Fujimaki.

The program begins on June 16th (Tuesday) afternoon with a reception and continues through the 19th (Friday) afternoon, with both oral and poster technical sessions on topics of interest in superconductive electronics.

The PDF Call for Papers can be found here.  Further Conference information is available at the Conference website www.isec09.org.  Abstracts have to be submitted electronically only. Complete information on the format of abstracts and submission categories can be found at the conference website. The on-line abstract submission opened on November 1, 2008. The deadline to submit abstracts is January 31, 2009.

INTERMAG 2009 to Be Held in Sacramento, CA

EU Call for Proposals - HTS devices for electricity networks

September 11, 2008 (A52).  The European Union (EU) Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) issued on September 3, 2008 a call for proposals, which includes (7.3.1) HTS devices for electricity networks and (7.3.2)High density /rapid release energy storage. The link to the EU CORDIS site is http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm.  For more details, please consult the FP7 Cooperation Work Programme: Energy - “Annual Work Programme 2009”, p. 22-23.  We wish to attract immediate attention of interested European colleagues to this opportunity.  Please ask your institutional office in charge of contacts with EC (European Commission) program bureaucracy to secure all pertinent information. The deadline is short!

First Announcement of EUCAS 2009 Released

Proceedings of the XIII Polish National School of Superconductivity
May 8th, 2008 (A40).  The Proceedings of the XIII Polish National School of Superconductivity, which was held at the Lądek Zdrój resort in early November 2007, will be published in Acta Physica Polonica A, vol. 114 scheduled for July 2008.  The preview of the Contents list can be found here.

Lectures on Superconductivity Available Online

March 29, 2008 (A36).  A project to produce video lectures on superconductivity, featuring contributions from leading world experts in academia and industry, was announced in 2002 by the European Network for Superconductivity, SCENET-2.  This project was led by Dr. Bartek Glowacki, University of Cambridge, England, and received financial support from SCENET-2, Pi-Shift and the European Science Foundation.

The production and editing process have been finally completed, and the “Lectures on Superconductivity” are now available free-of-charge online at: http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/ascg/lectures .  Some technical details on accessibility and formats can found here.

Although the films are available online, this is an on-going project to educate students and to celebrate the centenary of the discovery of superconductivity in 2008.  Dr. Glowacki and his colleagues aim to gradually add supporting text, questions and links to further reading and related videos, for each film.  It is also hoped that present films can eventually be updated, and coverage of some subjects increased, as the opportunity arises.

Contributions of supporting material from the superconductivity community are now being sought (see details here).  Please send your comments and contributions by e-mail to los@msm.cam.ac.uk .

Proceedings of EUCAS 2007 Papers Accessible Online

March 20, 2008 (A34).  The invited papers of EUCAS 2007 are now published in the online version of the special issue of Superconductor Science and Technology (SuST), vol. 21, No. 3, March 2008.  At present, these papers are accessible at http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/0953-2048/21/3 .  The contributed papers appeared in the free online Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS), vol. 97, 2008.  These are accessible at http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/97/1 .  Selected EUCAS papers were pre-published earlier in this Forum, Issue 3 and Preview of Issue 4.  Note that some papers pre-published here include content not available in the Proceedings version.  This is the consequence of Forum reviewing process, which is independent of JPCS and EUCAS 2007.

10th Anniversary Highlights of New Journal of Physics

March 3, 2008 (A32).  This year will mark the 10th anniversary of the free-to-read, online journal, New Journal of Physics (NJP) (co-owned by the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society).  To celebrate this milestone, the NJP Editorial Board and publishing staff have compiled a short list of some of their article highlights from right across physics that have been published in the journal since 1998.  To accompany the selection, they put together an exclusive '10th Anniversary Highlights' collection of non-specialist summaries written by the original authors themselves. The full list of selected articles, together with the collection of summaries and a series of interviews with some of the featured authors, can be read at http://herald.iop.org/NJP_10years/m274/crk/132364/link/1351.   Superconductivity-related articles of this selection are:

• Dagotto, E.: “Open questions in CMR manganites, relevance of clustered states and analogies with other compounds including the cuprates
  Frigeri, P. A., Agterberg D. F. and Sigrist,M.: “Spin susceptibility in superconductors without inversion symmetry
• Sekitani, T.; Matsuda, Y. H. and Miura, N.: “Measurement of the upper critical field of optimally-doped YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ in megagauss magnetic fields”.

Comments on the highlights, the summary collection and on the NJP in general should be directed to Dr. Tim Smith, Publisher, New Journal of Physics, E-mail: njp@iop.org , http://www.njp.org, Tel: +44 (0) 117 930 1204,  Fax: +44 (0)117 920 0948.

Free Access to Selected 2007 Superconductor Science and Technology Articles

February 15, 2008 (A30).  The popular IOP Journal Superconductor Science and Technology (SuST) made accessible free-of-charge a selection of 27 articles published in 2007.  This selection will be freely accessible until 31 December 2008 at http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=extra.highlights2007/0953-2048 . The subject range extends from theory and materials to electronic and large-scale applications.  These highlights have been chosen by the Editorial Board to represent the quality of research that was published in the journal during 2007.  We list below the two topical review articles selected as highlights:

• Eisterer, M.: “Magnetic properties and critical currents of MgB2”.
• Noe, M. and Steurer, M.: “High-temperature superconductor fault current limiters: concepts, applications, and development status”.

New EU Seventh Framework “S-PULSE”

December 21, 2007 (A24).  The European 7th Framework Project “S-PULSE” (Shrink-Path of Ultra-Low Power Superconducting Electronics) will start on January 1st 2008 under the leadership (coordination) of the Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT) in Jena, Germany. The project consortium includes 15 partners from universities, research institutes and high-tech companies of Germany, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain and South Africa.

The focus of the work will be to establish a new electronics family based on
quantum effects in superconductors. The Rapid Single Flux Quantum (RSFQ)
electronics provides an ultra-low power consumption of only 1atojoule per logic operation (10000 times less than a modern transistor) and is therefore a promising future alternatively to today’s CMOS electronics.  The RSFQ is capable to operate at clock frequencies above 100 GHz. The further growth of packaging density in conventional integrated CMOS circuits is already limited by their power density generating a massive thermal heating. The RSFQ electronics provides an interesting perspective for several special applications and should facilitate further progress beyond today’s scaling limits.

The first main target of the project is to disseminate the university knowledge of the RSFQ technique to potentially interested users.  Besides facilitating presentations at scientific conferences, the project S-PULSE aims at the education of researchers and engineers.  Industrial partners will be educated and supported in their long term project planning via special workshops and seminars on circuit design, packaging and example applications of RSFQ solutions.

The second main target is to enhance European competitiveness in
superconducting electronics, and to define and coordinate strategic research and
development activities, in a way similar to the semiconductor roadmap ITRS. New approaches to improving packaging density and device miniaturization down to nanostructures will be analyzed in several research studies.

The project should focus the strategic planning in Europe to keep track of the strong progress in this field, especially in Japan and the US.  Further information will become accessible via the new PULSE webpage of IPHT (of course with links from and to FLUXONICS).

May 28. 2007 (A7).  Our readers familiar with Russian language might benefit from reading the Bulletin on “Superconductors in Electric Power Industry” http://perst.isssph.kiae.ru/supercond/  published by a dedicated team at the Moscow’s famous Kurchatov’s Institute (see teams group photo below), with collaboration of co-editors from other institutions active in the field. 

This Bulletin enjoys a rapidly growing readership: from April 27th, 2007, it had nearly 9000 online visitors!  The published material is largely based on foreign information sources, but it represents a very useful and interesting compilation.  It also facilitates direct access to these sources.  Simultaneously, the Bulletin provides excellent insight into the pertinent activities in Russia.

Fig. 1: The team publishing the Russian Bulletin “Superconductors in Electric Power Industry”.  Standing from left to right: V.I. Scherbakov (Editor), O. K. Alekseeva, N. K. Morozova, D. I. Shutova, A. a. Nikonov, I. L. Furletova, V. V. Lobyncev and M. P. Smaev (Editor).  Sitting are, left to right: F. A. Shkliaruk, A. K. Tchernysheva, A. A. Veligshanin.

Reorganization of Some French Laboratories Active in Superconductivity

April 30, 2007 (A4).  In France, superconductivity-related research and development activities are in-part conducted in the so-called “mixed laboratories” involving one or more universities (or an industrial organization), and an organizational unit (section) of the French “Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique” (CNRS, the French National Center of Scientific Research).  In these mixed laboratories, the research is conducted jointly, usually on the campus of one of the participating universities.  Examples of such laboratories are listed in the “Guide to European Superconductivity-related Activities”.  Effective January 1, 2007, several of these mixed laboratories have been or are being reorganized.  Consequently, the pertinent entries of that Guide might not be entirely relevant or functional.  Once the reorganization and the construction of corresponding new webpages will be completed, the pertinent CNRS entries to the Guide will be updated accordingly.
            At this juncture, we can already report that in the Grenoble area two major reorganizations took place:

1. CRTBT, Laboratoire de Cristallographie, LLN and LEPES were integrated to form the new Néel Institute: http://neel.cnrs.fr/ , officially inaugurated on the 26th  and 27th of April, 2007.  Of these, the CRTBT and Laboratoire de Cristallographie are still listed in the Guide.  The new website of Néel Institute’s Superconductivity Group is: http://neel.cnrs.fr/spip.php?rubrique65 .
   
2. LEG (listed in the Guide) and LEMD fusioned to form the G2Elab: http://www.leg.ensieg.inpg.fr/G2Elab/ .

At present, the new webpages indicated above are entirely or predominantly in French language.  The official rationale for the reorganization is to increase the visibility of these mixed laboratories. 

New Profile of IPTH-Jena

April 18, 2007 (A3).  At the beginning of 2007, the Institute of Physical High Technology in Jena, Germany, was renamed to become “Institute of Photonic Technology”.  However, it retained the acronym “IPHT”.  The IPHT Department of Quantum Electronics, which since inception was active in superconducting electronics, both analog and digital, assumed a new profile and became the “Department of Quantum Detection”.  The change is related to the continuing shift in funding opportunities (away from superconductivity in the traditional sense) and also the retirement of Prof. Dr. Eckhardt Hoenig, who used to provide leadership in superconductivity- and magnetics-related activities.  The IPHT entry in the “Guide to European Superconductivity-related Activities” was updated accordingly.
Below we reproduce the official announcement of the Department of Quantum Detection:

From Quantum Electronics
to Quantum Detection – a Traditional Department with a New Profile

According to the strategic decision of IPHT Supervisory Board the Institute is going to focus its long-term research and development activities on photonic technologies. In 2006, the Department of Quantum Electronics has developed a concept to make its outstanding technological potential and its scientific experience available to the Institute and to join these new strategic goals. In the framework of this concept, the Department will rearrange its research activities towards the development and application of quantum limited detection systems. In the forthcoming years research and development will concentrate stepwise on quantum radiometry and quantum magnetometers to open up novel and profitable fields of application such as for example Terahertz imaging and spectroscopy, bio-molecule spectrometry, and magnetic field mapping in geophysics and medicine.

The quantum limited detection of radiation is based on the Department’s long standing detector development in radio astronomy. In the next few years, it will be extended to a much wider photonic spectrum ranging from Gamma- and X-rays down to T-rays and radio waves as well. For the extremely sensitive sensors anticipated here, superconducting amplifier technology shall play an important role. Including also optoelectronic sensors, a wide field for research and development is determined, which for example in respect of Terahertz technology is generally considered to have an excellent and promising application potential.

The new field of quantum magnetometry further extends the worldwide accepted experience and the technological leadership of the Department for complex, ultra precise measuring systems for geomagnetic exploration purposes to new areas such as biology and biochemistry. For this purpose, a new group of researchers investigating optically pumped magnetometers will be established. Once these sensors reach a sufficiently high sensitivity they may substitute superconducting quantum interference devices, this way providing a significantly wider application potential for ultra precise magnetometry.

The Department admits its responsibility for the European FLUXONICS Initiative and continues operating the circuit foundry, i.e., continues manufacturing SQUID and large scale integrated superconductive electronic circuits on customer’s request. The development and application of the customary SQUID sensors and the Josephson voltage standard are transferred to Supracon Ltd., the spin-off company of the Department.

European Superconductivity News Forum - Results of the Poll

March 17, 2007 (A1).  In response to the CSC Europe Committee and ESAS poll of February 23rd, 2007, concerning the expected usefulness of the European Superconductivity News Forum project we obtained by March 15th, 2007 the following tally:

Comments:

1. Balances to 100% are blanc votes.
2. Answers “maybe”, “possibly” or “perhaps” were counted as blancs.
3. Respondents, who used the questionnaire posted in Internet, could not differentiate between questions 2 and 3.  An answer “Yes” or “No” was thus applied to both 2 and 3.

Approximately 50% of those asked to participate responded, which represents a statistically valid and highly representative sample.  We extend our sincere thanks to all of you, who participated in the poll.  Clearly, an overwhelming majority sees the need for the News Forum, and very respectable majorities are interested to contribute now or in the future.    Indeed, the Forum can be sustained only if a sufficiently large fraction of the whole European superconductivity community contributes actively.  The overall sample size suggests that this is possible but not necessarily assured, especially that the numbers of those, who wish to contribute (answers to questions 2, 3, 4), are naturally lower than the overall number of respondents.  We’ll thus embark on this Forum project initially on the trial basis.  This European experiment might be discontinued by the end of 2008 if a sufficiently broad interest base and participation will not be attained.  However, we certainly hope that the Forum will meet the expectations of those, who voted “yes” and will prove informative, useful and rewarding.  In this case, the IEEE Council on Superconductivity might attempt to expand this project worldwide.