https://phys.org/physics-news/superconductivity en-us The latest news on superconductivity In the predawn hours of Sept. 5, 2021, engineers achieved a major milestone in the labs of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC), when a new type of magnet, made from high-temperature superconducting material, achieved a world-record magnetic field strength of 20 tesla for a large-scale magnet. That's the intensity needed to build a fusion power plant that is expected to produce a net output of power and potentially usher in an era of virtually limitless power production. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-high-temperature-superconducting-magnets-ready.html Superconductivity Plasma Physics Mon, 04 Mar 2024 11:52:12 EST news628775519 From televisions to X-ray machines, many modern technologies are enabled by electrons that have been juiced up by a particle accelerator. Now, the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has worked with General Atomics and other partners to unlock even more applications by exploring the process of designing, prototyping and testing particle accelerators that are more powerful and efficient, while also less expensive and bulky. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-cooled-cavity-feasible-commercial-applications.html General Physics Superconductivity Thu, 29 Feb 2024 16:40:05 EST news628447201 Hydrogen (like many of us) acts weird under pressure. Theory predicts that when crushed by the weight of more than a million times our atmosphere, this light, abundant, normally gaseous element first becomes a metal, and even more strangely, a superconductor—a material that conducts electricity with no resistance. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-foundational-tool-behavior-hydride-superconductors.html Superconductivity Wed, 28 Feb 2024 11:00:01 EST news628323993 Physicists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have uncovered that Josephson tunnel junctions—the fundamental building blocks of superconducting quantum computers—are more complex than previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-fundamental-equation-superconducting-quantum-bits.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Wed, 14 Feb 2024 10:08:03 EST news627127681 Quantum technology could outperform conventional computers on some advanced optimization and computational tasks. In recent years, physicists have been working to identify new strategies to create quantum systems and promising qubits (i.e., basic units of information in quantum computers). https://phys.org/news/2024-02-flowermon-superconducting-qubit-based-cuprate.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Mon, 12 Feb 2024 10:41:31 EST news626956886 In most materials, heat prefers to scatter. If left alone, a hotspot will gradually fade as it warms its surroundings. But in rare states of matter, heat can behave as a wave, moving back and forth somewhat like a sound wave that bounces from one end of a room to the other. In fact, this wave-like heat is what physicists call "second sound." https://phys.org/news/2024-02-physicists-capture-sloshing-superfluid-revealing.html General Physics Superconductivity Thu, 08 Feb 2024 14:00:01 EST news626604202 A new fusion of materials, each with special electrical properties, has all the components required for a unique type of superconductivity that could provide the basis for more robust quantum computing. The new combination of materials, created by a team led by researchers at Penn State, could also provide a platform to explore physical behaviors similar to those of mysterious, theoretical particles known as chiral Majoranas, which could be another promising component for quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-combining-materials-unique-superconductivity-quantum.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Thu, 08 Feb 2024 14:00:01 EST news626604115 Diamonds are beautiful gemstones, which thanks to their shimmering sparkle and transparency look great in jewelry, but rough diamonds are much more interesting from a scientific point of view. The physical and chemical properties of diamond have made it a critical component for many devices in optics and electronics. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-scientists-diamond-substrate-coated-niobium.html Condensed Matter Superconductivity Thu, 08 Feb 2024 09:36:09 EST news626607360 A research team has, for the first time, observed and quantitatively characterized the many-body pairing pseudogap in unitary Fermi gases. This achievement, pursued by the ultracold atomic community for nearly two decades, resolves longstanding debates regarding the existence of a pairing pseudogap in these gases. It also supports pairing as a possible origin of the pseudogap in high-temperature superconductors, within the framework of preformed-pair superconductivity theory. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-quantum-simulation-ultracold-fermions-unveils.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Wed, 07 Feb 2024 11:00:01 EST news626521140 A team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has provided new data and analysis on infinite-layer nickelates. This material is a recently discovered class of unconventional superconductors. The results provide new insights into how these superconductors work and how they differ from other superconductors. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-scientists-class-unconventional-superconductors.html Superconductivity Wed, 07 Feb 2024 10:16:36 EST news626523393 Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have used a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and computational modeling to get a closer look and deeper understanding of tantalum oxide. When this amorphous oxide layer forms on the surface of tantalum—a superconductor that shows great promise for making the "qubit" building blocks of a quantum computer—it can impede the material's ability to retain quantum information. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-view-tantalum-oxidation-impedes-qubit.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Mon, 05 Feb 2024 15:29:16 EST news626369351 Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created a new superconductor with a chiral crystalline structure by mixing two materials, one with superconductivity but no chirality, another with chirality but no superconductivity. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-scientists-properties-superconductor-chiral.html Superconductivity Mon, 05 Feb 2024 10:13:36 EST news626350414 High pressure has revealed surprising physics and created novel states in condensed matter. Exciting examples include near room temperature superconductivity (Tc > 200 K) in high-pressure hydrides such as H3S and LaH10. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-high-harmonic-spectroscopy-electronic-pressure.html Condensed Matter Superconductivity Fri, 02 Feb 2024 09:33:17 EST news626088791 A European XFEL team at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology has tested a mock-up coil of the superconducting undulator pre-series module (S-PRESSO) designed for an upgrade of the European XFEL. It achieved a record-breaking magnetic field. This milestone is reported in Frontiers in Physics. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-milestone-superconducting-undulator-european-xfel.html Superconductivity Thu, 01 Feb 2024 13:12:21 EST news626015539 Christopher Parzyck had done everything right. Parzyck, a postdoctoral researcher, had brought his nickelate samples—a newly discovered family of superconductors—to a synchrotron beamline for X-ray scattering experiments. He was measuring his samples, which he'd synthesized with a new method, in the hope of detecting the suspected presence of "charge ordering"—a phenomenon in which electrons self-organize into periodic patterns. The phenomenon has been linked to high-temperature superconductivity. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-flawed-material-superconductor-conundrum.html Superconductivity Thu, 01 Feb 2024 12:39:04 EST news626013541 Superconductivity is well understood in so-called "conventional" superconductors. More recent, however, are unconventional superconductors, and it is as yet unclear how they work. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-team-uranium-ditelluride-superconducting-high.html Superconductivity Wed, 31 Jan 2024 11:08:57 EST news625921732 In physics, scientists have been fascinated by the mysterious behavior of superconductors—materials that can conduct electricity with zero resistance when cooled to extremely low temperatures. Within these superconducting systems, electrons team up in "Cooper pairs" because they're attracted to each other due to vibrations in the material called phonons. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-simulation-distinct-phases-superconducting-dynamics.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Wed, 24 Jan 2024 11:00:01 EST news625134274 The discovery of superconductivity more than a century ago has significantly changed our world. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-superconductor-liquidsolid-vacuum-exatesla-strong.html Superconductivity Thu, 18 Jan 2024 10:25:34 EST news624795926 Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from MIPT and China's Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research have computationally explored the stability of the bizarre compounds of hydrogen, lanthanum, and magnesium that exist at very high pressures. In addition to matching the various three-element combinations to the conditions at which they are stable, the team discovered five completely new compounds of hydrogen and either magnesium or lanthanum only. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-probes-unexplored-combination-chemical-elements.html Superconductivity Wed, 17 Jan 2024 15:42:17 EST news624728529 Princeton physicists have discovered an abrupt change in quantum behavior while experimenting with a three-atom-thin insulator that can be easily switched into a superconductor. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-sudden-death-quantum-fluctuations-defies.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Fri, 12 Jan 2024 09:53:50 EST news624275626 RIKEN physicists have found an ideal platform for exploring the behavior of electrons in a material as it approaches superconductivity. This could help to develop new superconductors that operate at more convenient temperatures than existing ones. The study is published in the journal Physical Review B. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-thin-reveals-pre-superconducting-phase.html Superconductivity Thu, 11 Jan 2024 11:36:03 EST news624195362 In the realm of superconductivity, the durability and efficiency of materials like REBCO (Rare Earth Barium Copper Oxide) tapes are crucial for application in various high-tech fields. However, these materials face challenges, particularly when it comes to maintaining their superconducting properties under stress. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-unraveling-impact-edge-superconducting-rebco.html Superconductivity Fri, 05 Jan 2024 14:10:47 EST news623686245 In a recent leap forward for quantum computing and optical technologies, researchers have uncovered an important aspect of photon detection. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs), pivotal in quantum communication and advanced optical systems, have long been hindered by a phenomenon known as intrinsic dark counts (iDCs). These spurious signals, occurring without any real photon trigger, significantly impact the accuracy and reliability of these detectors. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-geometric-intrinsic-dark-superconducting-nanowire.html Optics & Photonics Superconductivity Fri, 29 Dec 2023 11:40:01 EST news623071194 Superconductors have intrigued physicists for decades. But these materials, which allow the perfect, lossless flow of electrons, usually only exhibit this quantum-mechanical peculiarity at temperatures so low—a few degrees above absolute zero—as to render them impractical. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-strategy-higher-temperature-superconductors.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Mon, 18 Dec 2023 12:02:39 EST news622123357 Field-induced superconductivity occurs when an applied magnetic field increases or induces superconductivity. In a new report published in Science Advances, Joshua J. Sanchez and a team of scientists applied stress as a switch between a field tunable superconducting state and a robust non-field tunable state, to mark the first demonstration of a strain-tunable, superconducting spin valve with infinite magnetoresistance. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-field-induced-superconductivity-quantum-materials.html Condensed Matter Superconductivity Tue, 12 Dec 2023 09:00:02 EST news621508820 Recently, a research group led by Prof. Chen Wenge from Hefei lnstitutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), along with Prof. Ma Yanwei's research group from the Institute of Electrical Engineering of CAS, developed the first Tesla class iron-based superconducting coil for high field application. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-tesla-class-iron-based-superconducting-high.html Superconductivity Mon, 11 Dec 2023 11:16:07 EST news621515765 A recent study published in Nature Communications by researchers from Politecnico di Milano, Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg and Sapienza University of Rome sheds light on one of the many mysteries of high-critical-temperature copper-based superconductors. Even at temperatures above the critical temperature, they are special, behaving like "strange" metals. This means that their electrical resistance changes with temperature differently than that of normal metals. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-strange-behavior-cuprates-superconductor-ramifications.html Condensed Matter Superconductivity Mon, 11 Dec 2023 10:46:03 EST news621513961 Physicists at RIKEN have developed an electronic device that hosts unusual states of matter, which could one day be useful for quantum computation. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-superconducting-junction-2d-material-harness.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Fri, 08 Dec 2023 15:00:13 EST news621270008 An international research team led by quantum physicist Markus Arndt (University of Vienna) has achieved a breakthrough in the detection of protein ions: Due to their high energy sensitivity, superconducting nanowire detectors achieve almost 100% quantum efficiency and exceed the detection efficiency of conventional ion detectors at low energies by a factor of up to a 1,000. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-superconducting-nanowires-protein-ions.html Superconductivity Quantum Physics Mon, 04 Dec 2023 10:40:03 EST news620908801 In a study published Nov. 24 in Matter, researchers led by Prof. Luo Jianlin from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have provided solid evidence that LK99 is non-superconducting, thus disproving earlier superconductivity claims. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-myth-room-temperature-superconductivity-lk-.html Superconductivity Tue, 28 Nov 2023 08:44:03 EST news620383441