The loss of electrical resistance of a metal particle is also a matter of its size. A group of researchers has now proven that the temperature below which a material becomes a superconductor can increase dramatically, when the material is present as spherical nanoparticles.
This was proven by observing tin nanoparticles with a scanning tunneling microscope. Thus, quantum effects in the tiny particles can intensify superconductivity up to 60 %, but only if a "magical" size is reached that can be predicted accurately. These results provide new starting points for superconductivity at room temperature.
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