Yale News (January 26, 2021), “Rethinking the fundamental way electrons interact in superconducting quantum materials” by Jim Shelton.
Scientists have discovered a new twist to one of the fundamental interactions underpinning the physical world — the interplay of energy between electrons in a solid material.
It’s the interaction between electrons that is at the heart of superconductivity, the ability of a material to move an electrical current with zero resistance. To achieve this, these superconductors must be cooled to very low temperatures — typically about minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit. Understanding electron interactions, scientists say, may help them create a new generation of superconducting quantum materials that function at higher, easier-to-manage temperatures.
“For decades the dream has been to make high-temperature superconductors that operate at as high as room temperature, but there is much we still don’t understand about superconductivity,” said Eduardo H. da Silva Neto, an assistant professor of physics at Yale and corresponding author of a new study that looked at how electrons interact in copper-based materials.
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