The Superconductor Laboratory is the discovery place of the Tl-based superconductors -- one of high Tc superconductor families with the highest Tc and the most useful prperties of applications. Since 1987, under the support of the Arkansas Energy Office, the Superconductor Laboratory has discovered number of new superconductors, especially Tl-based superconductors both in the bulk and thin film form. About 20 patents were awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the patents related to the Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O superconductors were transferred to STI (the Superconductor Technologies, Inc.) for commercialization.
The ongoing work of the Superconductor Laboratory includes the
search for new and even higher temperature superconductors, the
improvements of Tl-based and Hg-based superconductors (including
high-pressure synthesis), the thick and thin film deposition,
and the theoretical understanding of the high Tc superconductivity.
It would be necessary to expand the Superconductor Laboratory
to a Superconductor Research Center in order to attract more funding.
The Center would carry out research on high Tc superconductors
in all fields: Basic (theory, basic physical properties, and
new material search); bulk and wire (bulks, single crystals, and
wires, and related applications); and film (thick films, thin
films, and related applications).