Newly published research from a team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory sheds more light on the nature of high-temperature iron-based superconductivity.

Current theories suggest that magnetic fluctuations play a very significant role in determining superconducting properties and even act as a "pairing glue" in iron-based superconductors.

"A metal becomes a superconductor when normal electrons form what physicists call Cooper pairs. The interactions responsible for this binding are often referred to as 'pairing glue.' Determining the nature of this glue is the key to understanding, optimizing and controlling superconducting materials," said Ruslan Prozorov, an Ames Laboratory physicist who is an expert in superconductivity and magnetism.

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