Year : 2012, Volume : 37, Issue : 1to4
First page : ( 1) Last page : ( 8)
Print ISSN : 0379-0479. Online ISSN : 2349-2120. Published online : 2012  3.

Growth of cryogenics and superconductivity in India

Datta Tripti Sekhar¹, Sharma Ram Gopal¹

¹Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi-110067

Abstract

Cryogenics started in India as early as 1930 when a British company installed an oxygen plant. First low temperature experimental facility limited to 80 K was established at IACS Kolkata in 1937. Helium liquefier of capacity 4 litres/hr was installed in NPL in 1952 and that was the beginning of activity on superconductivity and low temperature physics down to 1 K. Many more institutes started activity at low temperature with minimum facility of helium refrigerator and PLA/PLN type laboratory liquid nitrogen plant during 1960–1980. First Superconducting NMR arrived at IISc. Bangalore in 1976 and the first MR! unit with superconducting magnet was installed at INMAS. Delhi in 1986. During 1990–2000, many major national programmes in the field of cryogenics and superconductivity were taken up. Department of Science and Technology too enhanced funding to support research on High Temperature Superconductor (HTS), Low Temperature and High Field facilities. All these programmes fueled the growth of cryogenic facilities and manpower. Production capacity of single air separation plants rose from 100 tons/day to more than 1000 tons/day. The availability of cryocoolers-going down to 4.5 K around the year 2000 led to the spread of low temperature research to many universities. This paper will summarize the growth of cryogenics in all its form including man power in the country and is based upon our study that we carried out for DST.

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Keywords

Cryogenics, Superconductivity, Man Power, India, Present Status.

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