Superconductors, as physical systems, are materials that, below a critical temperature, exhibit exactly zero DC electrical resistance and expel interior magnetic fields via the Meissner effect, indicating a thermodynamic phase distinct from ordinary conductors. Their behavior is described microscopically by Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) theory for conventional superconductors, where electrons form Cooper pairs that condense into a macroscopic quantum state with a complex order parameter and an energy gap in the excitation spectrum. Superconductors also display quantization of magnetic flux, support dissipationless supercurrents, and exhibit rich phase diagrams influenced by temperature, magnetic field, and material structure.
Researchers from the Texas Center for Superconductivity (TcSUH) and the department of physics at the University of Houston have broken the temperature record for superconductivity at ambient pressure—a breakthrough that ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 15, 2026
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When we think of powerful magnets used in particle accelerators or for NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), we often envision bulky machines, sometimes the size of buildings. But in an extraordinary breakthrough for physics, ...
Electron movement and structures described in quantum physics allow researchers to better understand how and why materials like superconductors behave as they do. Rice University researchers Jianwei Huang and Ming Yi have ...
Superconductivity
Mar 11, 2026
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The search for materials that can conduct electricity at room temperature without losing energy is one of the greatest and most consequential challenges of modern physics: loss-free power transmission, more efficient motors ...
Superconductivity
Mar 9, 2026
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For the first time, physicists have demonstrated that a material's superconductivity can be altered by coupling it to an in-built, light-confining cavity. In experiments published in Nature, a team led by Itai Keren at Columbia ...
Superconductivity is a quantum state of matter characterized by an electrical resistance of zero and the expulsion of magnetic fields at low temperatures below a critical point. Superconductors, materials in which this state ...
Physicists in China have unveiled new clues to the origins of high-temperature superconductivity in an iron-based material just a single unit-cell thick. Led by Qi-Kun Xue and Lili Wang at Tsinghua University, the team's ...
Many physicists are searching for a triplet superconductor. Indeed, we could all do with one, although we may not know it yet—or understand why. Triplet superconductors could be the key to achieving the most energy-efficient ...
Superconductivity
Feb 19, 2026
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Two or more graphene layers that are stacked with a small twist angle in relation to each other form a so-called moiré lattice. This characteristic pattern influences the movement of electrons inside materials, which can ...
Physicists in Leiden have built a microscope that can measure no fewer than four key properties of a material in a single scan, all with nanoscale precision. The instrument can even examine complete quantum chips, accelerating ...
Nanophysics
Feb 12, 2026
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