Repelling charges prevent Cooper pairs from 'island hopping' in insulating state
Monday, April 22, 2019 - 09:31
in Physics & Chemistry
Superconductors are able to conduct electricity with zero resistance thanks to Cooper pairs, electron duos that team up and skate through a material unimpeded. In 2007, Brown University researchers made the surprising discovery that Cooper pairs can also exist in insulating materials, helping to block the flow of current rather than enabling it. Now that same lab group has revealed the forces involved in these "Cooper pair insulators."