Robert Ochsenfeld

Robert Ochsenfeld was a German physicist born on May 18, 1901 in Hilchenbach (Helberhausen quarter). In 1933 he discovered with Walther Meissner the Meißner-Ochsenfeld effect.

He died on December 5, 1993 in Hilchenbach.

The next great milestone in understanding how matter behaves at extreme cold temperatures occurred in 1933. German researchers Walther Meissner (above left) and Robert Ochsenfeld (above right) discovered that a superconducting material will repel a magnetic field (below graphic). A magnet moving by a conductor induces currents in the conductor. This is the principle on which the electric generator operates. But, in a superconductor the induced currents exactly mirror the field that would have otherwise penetrated the superconducting material - causing the magnet to be repulsed. This phenomenon is known as strong diamagnetism and is today often referred to as the "Meissner effect" (an eponym). The Meissner effect is so strong that a magnet can actually be levitated over a superconductive material.