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.
Quantum materials and superconductors are difficult enough to understand on their own. Unconventional superconductors, which cannot be explained within the framework of standard theory, take the enigma to an entirely new ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 9, 2026
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Today's most powerful computers hit a wall when tackling certain problems, from designing new drugs to cracking encryption codes. Error-free quantum computers promise to overcome those challenges, but building them requires ...
Superconductivity
Feb 5, 2026
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63
You can tell a lot about a material based on the type of light shining at it: Optical light illuminates a material's surface, while X-rays reveal its internal structures and infrared captures a material's radiating heat. ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 4, 2026
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258
When cooled to its superconducting state, niobium blocks the radiative flow of heat 20 times better than when in its metallic state, according to a study led by a University of Michigan Engineering team. The experiment marks ...
Superconductivity
Feb 3, 2026
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31
For quantum computers to function, they must be kept at extremely low temperatures. However, today's cooling systems also generate noise that interferes with the fragile quantum information they are meant to protect. Now, ...
Superconductivity
Jan 29, 2026
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67
Quantum computers, systems that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, will require faster and energy-efficient memory components, which will allow them to perform well on complex tasks. Superconducting ...
Physicists have uncovered a link between magnetism and a mysterious phase of matter called the pseudogap, which appears in certain quantum materials just above the temperature at which they become superconducting. The findings ...
Superconductivity
Jan 19, 2026
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1308
A research team from Osaka Metropolitan University proposed using a current-biased kinetic inductance detector with submicron 400 megapixels to image hot spots induced by a localized external stimulus over a 15 × 15 mm2 area. ...
Condensed Matter
Jan 9, 2026
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32
A group of scientists, including Sergey Frolov, professor of physics at the University of Pittsburgh, and co-authors from Minnesota and Grenoble have undertaken several replication studies centered around topological effects ...
General Physics
Jan 8, 2026
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523
A research team led by Kuang Guangli and Jiang Donghui at the High Magnetic Field Laboratory of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CHMFL), has developed a "pocket-type" high-temperature ...
Condensed Matter
Jan 6, 2026
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