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.
Scientists at Warwick have shown that a material treated for 40 years as a uniform, textbook superconductor is in fact a patchwork of different crystal structures throughout its bulk, using an advanced 3D imaging technique ...
Superconductivity
20 hours ago
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Cornell physicists have discovered that minimizing disorder, not varying electron count, is the key factor for controlling superconductivity in the unique material iron selenide (FeSe), a new insight for understanding high-temperature ...
Superconductivity
22 hours ago
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To monitor the amount and type of nuclear material at power plants and weapons facilities, scientists look for a special signal—the unique pattern of gamma rays emitted by specific radioactive elements. However, some of these ...
General Physics
Sep 10, 2026
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Superconductors are materials that carry electricity with zero resistance below specific temperatures. Many of these materials become superconducting at very low temperatures, yet some enter superconducting phases at higher ...
Rice University researchers have used a magnetically levitated particle to search for ultraheavy dark matter, extending the hunt for some of the heaviest possible forms of the invisible matter thought to hold galaxies together. ...
General Physics
Sep 5, 2026
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What happens when a superconductor becomes so thin that electrons can no longer behave as if they were moving through an ordinary three-dimensional piece of metal? This question has been at the center of my recent work on ...
In the hunt for one of nature's most elusive substances—dark matter, which makes up 85% of all matter in the universe—scientists are going to extremes. Deep underground and chilled to near absolute zero, the Super Cryogenic ...
General Physics
Aug 27, 2026
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Scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS), in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States, have uncovered that a class of nickel-based materials known as samarium (Sm)-based infinite-layer ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 26, 2026
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Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, headquartered at Florida State University, have designed a new quantum computing architecture that uses magnetic levitation ...
Quantum Physics
Aug 20, 2026
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To commercialize quantum computing, manufacturers need high-quality superconducting materials for microchips, but they also require a reliable, sustainable nanofabrication process. Tantalum is a corrosion-resistant metal ...
Superconductivity
Aug 18, 2026
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