Eduardo H. da Silva Neto, assistant professor of physics, is co-author of a new study finding a new, nanoscale link between superconductivity–the flow of electric current without a loss of energy–and a phenomenon known as charge density waves.
The discovery, which is described in the journal Science, is a tantalizing step in the decades-long search for room-temperature superconductors that could unleash a new generation of electronics and computers.
The vast majority of superconducting materials operate at intensely cold temperatures, typically below -320 degrees Fahrenheit, making them impractical to use without a cooling system. Developing superconductors that operate at warmer temperatures could transform everything from laptop computers to regional power grids.
da Silva Neto is part of the research team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University and includes scientists from Yale, the University of British Columbia, and other institutions.
This article has been adapted from the Yale News article by Jim Shelton published on May 19, 2022. For more information, please see the full Yale News article, and the article in Science linked below.