Scientists at Oxford University and the Institut Laue-Langevin have used neutrons to probe the magnetic ‘glue’ thought to produce high temperature superconductivity and have identified stripes of magnetic moments and charge as the cause of a strange hourglass-shaped magnetic spectrum. Their findings, reported in Nature, are a step forward in the search for a model of high temperature superconductivity.
Current research into the origins of high temperature superconductivity found in a large class of copper oxide compounds centres on the motion of atomic magnetic moments. Fluctuations of these moments are believed to create an attractive force (a sort of magnetic ‘glue’) which binds electrons in pairs and allows them to move around unimpeded giving rise to superconductivity.
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