A group of Chinese scientists have discovered a new superconducting material that becomes active at relatively higher temperatures, marking a breakthrough in the search for more easily accessible superconductors.
Superconducting materials
boast various useful properties, including zero electrical resistance, meaning they allow the free passage of electrical currents, when the materials are cooled below a certain very low temperature, called the transition temperature, usually below minus 230 degrees Celcius.
In the study, published in the scientific journal Nature, the researchers observed a maximum transition temperature of 80 K (minus 193 degrees Celcius) in single crystals of La3Ni2O7 under high pressure.
Wang Meng from Sun Yat-sen University said the new material is a nickelate (compound containing nickel) and represents a second unconventional superconducting family that boasts transition temperatures above 77 K (minus 196 degrees Celcius) after cuprates (containing copper) with high transition temperatures were discovered in 1986.
Both the cuprate and nickelate superconductors turn superconductive at a temperature range where nitrogen is in a liquid state. Liquid nitrogen, as the cooler of the superconductors, can be manufactured at a low cost, thus allowing such superconductors to be used in more scenarios.
Although high-transition-temperature superconductivity in cuprates has been known for three decades, the underlying mechanism remains a mystery, according to the paper. The new discovery offers additional avenues of future research that could allow scientists to unravel that mystery, with big implications for technology.
"The electronic structure and magnetism of the nickelate are completely different from those of cuprates. It may lead scientists to crack the mechanism of high-transition-temperature superconductivity through comparative studies," Wang said.
Once the mechanism has been more fully understood, computers and AI technologies could be used to design and synthesize new superconducting materials that have high transition temperatures and are more easily applicable, Wang added.
