Establishment And Development Of Superconductivity In China (1949-2008)

Superconductivity is an important branch of physics.This paper systematically reviewed the process of establishment and development of superconductivity in China;focused on the establishment of cryogenic technology in the early Republic and its influence,analyzed the reason for the rapid establishment of the career of cryogenic technology in China;focused on the research process of copper oxide superconductor from 1986 to 1987 in China;analyzed the reason of this great achievement and its influence on the development of superconductivity in China;discussed the features of development and obtained important achievements and their influences on development of international superconductivity in each period,discussed the remarkable features compared with the development of international superconductivity and other domestic disciplines,and analyzed the reasons for its rapid starting,institutionalization in China and entering the international first echelon by using a large number of archival sources of the Institute of Physics,Chinese Academic of Sciences and the University of Science and Technology of China,Guan Weiyan’s letters and manuscripts,as well as oral historical materials.During 1949-2008,superconductivity in China took Institute of Physics,Chinese Academic of Sciences and the University of Science and Technology of China as the center,had developed from a blank discipline into a discipline with international firstclass research level and obtained a series of important achievements.These achievements included "Discovery of Copper oxide superconductor in liquid nitrogen temperature region" and "the first discovery of the iron-based superconductor with Tc above 40K" two National Natural Science Award(first class),at least six National Natural Science Award(second class),which had exerted an important influence on the development of international superconductivity.In the discipline of personnel training,it cultivated 23 Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Engineering.Their main contributors were Hong Zhaosheng,Guan Weiyan,Zhao Zhongxian and other scientists.Among the main contributors,Zhao Zhongxian won the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award of China of 2016.It can be divided into 5 stages for the development of superconductivity in China,they were the rise of low-temperature physics and cryogenic technology(1949-1964),the beginning of superconductivity(1958-1973),the institutionalization of superconductivity(1973-1986),rapid development driven by the research of copper oxide superconductors(1986-1994),and robust development of superconductivity(1994-2008).This paper held that the appearance of copper oxide superconductor in 1986 was a milestone for the development of superconductivity in China.The reasons why superconductivity had been able to complete its starting,institutionalization in China and enter the international first echelon in a relatively short time and achieve fruitful results.It included both internal and external causes.The internal reasons were that superconductivity had great application value,which is irreplaceable for high-energy particle accelerator,controlled nuclear fusion device and other fields,and superconductivity had strong interdisciplinary.The external reasons were that the discipline of superconductivity in China had a group of academic leaders with strong scientific research and organizational capabilities,as well as leaders of science and technology departments who had a long-term vision,respect talents and understand the laws of scientific development.Among them,scientists played the most important role in promoting the development of superconductivity in China.Compared with the development of international superconductivity,the development of superconductivity in China was characterized by task-oriented.And compared with other domestic disciplines,it possessed more chances for international academic exchanges,so that it can always keep up with the international frontier.