New Class of Unconventional Superconductors

Researchers at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and at the universities of Kent, Bristol and Huddersfield, in England, have discovered a new class of very exotic unconventional superconductors.

Superconductivity is one of the most fascinating phenomena known to humankind. When a superconductor is cooled below its 'critical temperature', the fluid of electrons, which is responsible for the conduction of electricity through the material, undergoes a radical re-organization. The electrons form 'Cooper pairs' and these Cooper pairs condense into a single, collective quantum state, which means they all behave as a single entity. This allows the manifestation of quantum-mechanical effects, which are normally confined to the world of sub-microscopic particles, on a scale that is visible to the naked eye.