IBM reports that it has perfected the first working application of liquid nitrogen-cooled superconductivity at its Thomas J Watson research labs in Yorktown Heights: the device is a Squid – Superconducting Quantum Interference Device – used for measuring minute magnetic fields in studies of anything from brain waves to geological structures, consists of two thin-film Josephson devices, and operates at minus 205oC, a temperature that can be achieved with liquid nitrogen cooling at reduced pressure; it is fitting that IBM should have perfected the first device, because the first discovery of the new superconducting materials was made at its Zurich laboratory; it says it is prepared to license the technology to keen Squidmakers.
