Why use mercury to verify isotope effect in superconducting?

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Mercury is favored for verifying the isotope effect in superconductivity due to its low melting point and high critical temperature (Tc), making it suitable for experiments. Its availability and extensive prior research contribute to its selection in studies. While other materials can be used, mercury's properties allow for easier access to the necessary temperatures for superconductivity. The critical temperature of mercury, although lower than helium's boiling point, is still considered high enough for practical applications. Overall, mercury's combination of accessibility and established research makes it a logical choice for these experiments.
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Because mercury has a low melting point? What are the advantages of mercury in the isotope effect experiment? Can we use some other materials?
 
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Because a) it was available and b) it has a high Tc.

Other materials have been used. Just not used first.
 
Vanadium 50 said:
Because a) it was available and b) it has a high Tc.Other materials have been used. Just not used first.

a) Yes, it is because mercury is available, as mentioned in many papers. But I am afraid this explanation seems a little trivial...

b) Also, since the critical temperature of mercury is lower than the boil point of helium(4.2K), it still can be regarded as a high critical temperature?
 
a) Sometimes the reason for making a particular choice IS trivial. Mercury is widely available and well studied.
b) Any temperature above about 1.6-1.7K can be "easily"reached by pumping on He-4 using a normal rotary pump, meaning you don't need any special equipment to reach a temperature where mercury is well into its superconducting state.
 
Thread 'Unexpected irregular reflection signal from a high-finesse cavity'

Thread 'Unexpected irregular reflection signal from a high-finesse cavity'

I am observing an irregular, aperiodic noise pattern in the reflection signal of a high-finesse optical cavity (finesse ≈ 20,000). The cavity is normally operated using a standard Pound–Drever–Hall (PDH) locking configuration, where an EOM provides phase modulation. The signals shown in the attached figures were recorded with the modulation turned off. Under these conditions, when scanning the laser frequency across a cavity resonance, I expected to observe a simple reflection dip. Instead...
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