Scientists have been relentlessly working on understanding the fundamental mechanisms at the base of high-temperature superconductivity with the ultimate goal to design and engineer new quantum materials superconducting close to room temperature.
High temperature superconductivity is something of a holy grail for researchers studying quantum materials. Superconductors, which conduct electricity without dissipating energy, promise to revolutionize our energy and telecommunication power systems. However, superconductors typically work at extremely low temperatures, requiring elaborate freezers or expensive coolants. For this reason, scientist have been relentlessly working on understanding the fundamental mechanisms at the base of high-temperature superconductivity with the ultimate goal to design and engineer new quantum materials superconducting close to room temperature.
Fabio Boschini, Professor at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), and North American scientists studied the dynamics of the superconductor yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO), which offers superconductivity at higher-than-normal temperatures, via time-resolved resonant x-ray scattering at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) free-electron laser, SLAC (US). The research was published on May 19 in the journal Science. In this new study, researchers have been able to track how charge density waves in YBCO react to a sudden "quenching" of the superconductivity, induced by an intense laser pulse.
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