A mysterious superconductor’s wave could reveal the physics behind the materials
Physicists have finally captured a superconductor’s wave. The first direct evidence of a phase of matter known as a pair-density wave helps reveal the physics that underlies mysterious high-temperature superconductors, which conduct electricity without resistance at surprisingly high temperatures. The wave was detected using a scanning tunneling electron microscope, researchers report April 1 in Nature. Physicists had suspected that pair-density waves existed in these materials, and previous experiments had hinted at their existence. But without direct proof, scientists couldn’t advance their understanding of the materials. “Investigating and proving [that] this phase not only might exist, but actually does exist, is very important,” says theoretical physicist Eun-Ah Kim of Cornell University, who wasn’t involved in the work. High-temperature superconductors wowed physicists when the materials came on the scene in the 1980s. Known as cuprates because they contain copper, the materials conduct electricity without resistance at temperatures much higher than most other superconductors, some around 100 kelvins (about –173° Celsius) or higher (SN: 12/8/17). Although still chilly, such temperatures are much easier...