Browse Physics

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 develop a new type of superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) with significantly enhanced sensitivity and bandwidth, which can function as a general-purpose magnetic sensor.

A new class of high-temperature iron-based superconductors lacks features in its electronic band structure that, based on current theoretical understanding, were considered essential. In a field that has produced quite a few surprises, this is the biggest yet.

Magnetic resonance measurements probe the “insides” of an iron-based superconductor, raising questions about the origins of superconductivity in these materials.

A new pnictide-type superconductor is discovered with heavy electrons ordering antiferromagnetically and light electrons in a superconducting state.

A compelling explanation for the abnormal metallic behavior of cuprate superconductors says they are described by a theory that is hidden in an unphysical world.

Transport and quantum oscillations measurements in the cuprate superconductor ${\text{YBa}}_2{\text{Cu}}_3{\text{O}}_y$ point to density-wave order as an explanation for the peculiar doping evolution of the Fermi surface.

Iron selenide is transformed into an ambient high-temperature superconductor by a purely chemical method, substituting extremely high pressure.

Iron arsenide superconductors exhibit a surprising capacity to prevent magnetic field penetration.

After twenty years of effort, definitive quantum oscillations that could be used to map the Fermi surface were finally observed in a high-temperature cuprate superconductor in 2007. This and subsequent studies reveal a profound rearrangement of the Fermi surface in underdoped cuprates. The cause of the reconstruction, and its implication for the origin of high-temperature superconductivity, is a subject of active debate.

A crystal lacking inversion symmetry shows signatures of unconventional superconducting pairing.

Heat transport measurements in an iron-based superconductor offer new clues towards the determination of the superconducting pairing interaction in these materials.

Time-resolved laser spectroscopy of a high-transition-temperature superconductor shows that excited electrons and phonons both relax very quickly on ultrafast time scales and to some extent independently.

Superconducting transitions change the material’s phonon frequency and linewidth, but experiments now show that the line shape is altered as well.

Superconductors could be useful for trapping ultracold atoms in microstructures to make miniature atomic clocks.

High-resolution angle-dependent quantum oscillations in underdoped cuprates and unrestricted fits are used to suggest a new Fermi surface topology.

Rich physics emerges from an asymptotically exact solution of the weak-coupling limit of the Hubbard model.

In the domain of unusual optical properties, layered superconductors could be viable materials with a negative index of refraction.

Measurements with a scanning probe microscope sensitive to micron-scale magnetization variations provide evidence for stripes of enhanced superfluid density at the surface of an iron-pnictide superconductor.

Quantum interference effects can, in theory, lead to the emergence of new particles carrying exotic quantum numbers at a critical point. But how good is the evidence that this happens?