Browse Physics

Researchers spatially vary the strength of superconductivity on a nanometer scale using a ferroelectric material on top.

Theorists created a gravitational model that is mathematically analogous to one for a standard superconducting device, extending the ways that the tools of general relativity can lead to insights into condensed matter physics.

Researchers used a magnetic material to create a difference in current-carrying properties between two perpendicular directions in a superconductor. They could easily change the directions with an external magnetic field, which could be useful in superconducting devices.

Weaving together experimental clues and theoretical insights, three physicists devised in 1957 the first fundamental theory of superconductivity, one of the most successful theories in solid state physics.

Researchers used a superconducting structure to measure the properties of a rapid phase transition, as may have happened just after the big bang.

Coating a superconductor with a thin layer of gold dramatically increases its tolerance for magnetic fields.

A new type of wire carries electric current without resistance and is also strong and light.

Magnetic measurements hint at vestiges of superconductivity near room temperature–far too warm for the full superconducting phenomenon to exist.

A new material can tolerate higher magnetic fields than any other superconductor. Similar materials might be used to make more powerful magnets for MRI machines and other uses.

An electronic ratchet could turn magnetic superconductor vortices into the elements of a simple computer.

Nanotechnology protects the resistance-free flow of electricity from harm by a magnetic field and could improve superconducting wires.

Carbon nanotubes might be used to separate the entangled electron pairs in superconductors.

Charge ‘stripes’ have been observed in the most widely studied high-temperature superconductor, bolstering a theory that says they’re the key to carrying electricity without resistance.

A remarkable relationship between magnesium boride’s lattice vibrations and its electrons allows it to superconduct at temperatures higher than any other material in its class.

A single-atom bridge proves that the irreducible unit of current between two superconductors can be many times the charge of the electron.

New evidence confirms that the lattice of so-called magnetic vortices in a superconductor can melt, just like a real solid. The vortices directly affect the amount of electric current a superconductor can carry.

A new precision technique confirms that the magnetic field penetrates a superconductor only a few hundred nanometers below the surface in exactly the way theory predicts.

Under certain conditions, thin aluminum films require heating to become superconducting.

Two research groups have recently imaged superconducting vortices in cubic crystals to learn about basic physics.