A research team has found the strongest evidence yet of a novel type of superconducting material, a fundamental science breakthrough that may open the door to coaxing superconductivity — the flow of electric current without a loss of energy — in a new way.
The discovery also lends tangible support to a long-held theory about superconductivity — that it could be based upon electronic nematicity, a phase of matter in which particles break their rotational symmetry.
Here is what that means. In iron selenide crystals mixed with sulfur, iron atoms are positioned in a grid. At room temperature, an electron in an iron atom cannot distinguish between horizontal and vertical directions. But at lower temperatures, the electron may enter a “nematic” phase, where it begins to prefer moving in one direction or the other.
In some instances, the electron may start to fluctuate between preferring one direction, then the other. This is called nematic fluctuation.
For decades, physicists have attempted to prove the existence of superconductivity due to nematic fluctuations, with little success. But the new study, a multi-institutional effort led by Yale University's Eduardo H. da Silva Neto, offers promise.
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