Special issue on BOROMAG: The International Workshop on Superconductivity in Magnesium Diboride and Related Materials (Genoa, Italy, 17–19 June 2002)
The striking discovery of superconductivity in MgB2 at 40K announced in January 2001 by the Japanese group of Professor Akimitsu had a huge impact on the superconductivity scene. The relevance of the news was even more astonishing considering the already broad commercial availability of this simple binary compound from a number of worldwide suppliers. As a result,
just a few days after the announcement, samples were under severe analysis in many research laboratories, which immediately confirmed the importance of the discovery. This interest was soon followed by the appearance of hundreds of articles on the Web, covering fundamental, experimental and applied aspects relating to MgB2.
The idea of organizing the BOROMAG Workshop 18 months after the public announcement by Professor Akimitsu came to us with the hope of bringing together most of the scientists that gave an important contribution in elucidating the mechanisms of superconductivity at such a high temperature in a binary compound. We also thought that it was the right time to see whether a possible future could be forecast for practical applications based on MgB2 superconducting wires and thin films.
The reaction of the research community to this proposition was very positive, and substantial financial support for the organization of the event came from several international private and public institutions and also from a number of national companies.
More than 110 researchers attended the BOROMAG Workshop in Genoa, Italy, 17–19 June 2002, coming from 15 different countries. The presentations were subdivided into 17 invited, 22 oral, and 24 poster contributions, for a total number of 63 papers. In this special issue of Superconductor
Science and Technology, a selection of papers have been included. They consist mainly of invited and oral presentations, along with a number of poster presentations that have been selected based on their relevance.
Firstly, we would like to thank the Committee that helped with the planning of the programme of the workshop. We are very grateful to the authors for being punctual with submissions and the revisions of manuscripts, and also acknowledge the help of many colleagues who reviewed the manuscripts to ensure their high quality. We would also like to take the opportunity to thank all the young researchers that have given substantial help in the organization of the meeting, and finally to The National Institute for the Physics of Matter (INFM) that
kindly allowed us the use of its infrastructures.
Guest Editors:
Carlo Ferdeghini
Giovanni Grasso
Marina Putti