Superconductors can be broadly classified along two independent lines: conventional versus unconventional (defined by the mechanism by which their electrons form Cooper pairs), and type I versus type II (defined by their response to external magnetic fields). Most instances of unconventional pairing discovered to date are in type-II superconductors. Now Anshu Kataria of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal in India and her colleagues have found evidence of unconventional pairing in a type-I superconductor [1]. The discovery could offer a new platform for studying unconventional pairing, free from the influence of exotic phenomena that are often seen in type-II superconductors.
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