Explain the mystery of the 30 years of origin of superconductivity

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have said they have been able to explain the mystery that existed over the past 30 years to find superconducting materials that can operate at high temperatures. By discovering the nature of superconducting properties, scientists now have a solid basis to look for other materials that have similar properties but can operate at high temperatures. In other words, solving this question paved the way for the development of a wide range of fields from astronomy to computer science, from magnetic levers to supercomputers in the near future.

In a report published in Nature, the researchers revealed that superconductivity occurs because the pairs of electrons inside the material are twisted under the impact of charge or wave density. forming electron ripples.

Superconductivity was first discovered in 1911 by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes scientist during the experiment to investigate the properties of metals at low temperatures. Superconductivity is a phenomenon that occurs in some materials with a resistance of 0. In most cases, superconducting properties will appear when lowering the temperature of the material to minus 273 degrees Celsius. Whether possessing this property is called a superconductor at low temperatures .

The structure of copper oxide is superconducting

However, some materials still have superconducting properties at higher temperatures (about minus 135 degrees Celsius). These materials will be very useful in modern technology and promise to be widely applied in many different fields. However, the biggest problem is that scientists have not so much knowledge about this material so far.

Dr. Suchitra Sebastian, head of the research team at Cambridge, said: "The biggest problem with high-temperature superconductors is that we have yet to find it. The reason is that we don't really understand. Which ingredients in the material have promoted the appearance of superconductivity at high temperatures ".

Unlike conventional electronic devices, the current in a superconductor is the displacement current of tightly coupled pairs of electrons. With this structure, the electrons can move smoothly in the material and there is no resistance. Conversely, if electrons exist alone, the displacement flow will become chaotic and often collide with each other, which causes the material to resist. Therefore, just put the superconducting material in an appropriate temperature, it will show superconductivity with perfect electrical conductivity and almost no resistance.

Scientists know that there must be something inside superconducting materials that acts as binders to pair up electron pairs. However, scientists have not known what the mystic has ever been? All the researchers know is that the "glue" mentioned above will be weakened if the temperature or magnetic force of the material increases. Meanwhile, pairs of electrons are separated and superconductivity is lost.

Therefore, the approach of scientists at Cambridge is to understand the principle of the opposite process to find out the cause of the pairing of electrons. During the study, scientists have experimented with materials that are in a superconducting state.

Dr Sebastian said: "We try to understand what kind of interaction is happening inside the material before the electrons pair together because this is the key to the problem. Once the electrons have been paired with Each other, it is very difficult to determine what has happened, but if we can break the bond and divide the electrons, we can see the whole process of the electrons. is the method to understand where superconductivity comes from? "

Previously, researchers have learned that in most materials, superconductivity tends to be destroyed by external agents such as temperature or magnetic fields. Understanding the nature of this will find the opposite way to control the agents in the normal state and create superconductors. By using an extremely strong magnetic field, the team was able to eliminate the superconductivity of a material called cuprate, a superconductor derived from copper oxide.

Finally, the researchers were able to determine the origin of the electron pairs in the superconducting state of the material. Accordingly, a major surprising result is that c pairs of electrons are formed from a very weak binding force that is not as strong a link as previously predicted. Electron pairing is derived from the bending state of electrons by the effect of charge density waves.

According to Dr. Sebastian: "By identifying the source of superconducting phenomena, we absolutely hope to find more materials with superconductivity at higher temperatures than before, even At room temperature, this allows for the application of this special material to a wider range of fields, from which it can develop high-tech products based on superconducting properties. again typical of future supercomputer generations ".