Home > Press > Scientists create laser-activated superconductor
![]() |
High speed maglev trains use superconductors to make the train hover above the track Image from Shutterstock, cyo bo |
Abstract:
Shining lasers at superconductors can make them work at higher temperatures, suggests new findings from an international team of scientists including the University of Bath.
Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity without power loss and produce strong magnetic fields. They are used in medical scanners, super-fast electronic circuits and in Maglev trains which use superconducting magnets to make the train hover above the tracks, eliminating friction.
Currently superconductors only work at very low temperatures, requiring liquid nitrogen or helium to maintain their temperature. Now scientists publishing in the prestigious journal Nature have found a way to make certain materials superconduct at higher temperatures.
The team, led by the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter and including the Universities of Bath and Oxford, shone a laser at a material made up from potassium atoms and carbon atoms arranged in bucky ball structures and found it to still be superconducting at more than 100 degrees Kelvin -- around minus 170 degrees Celsius.
The researchers hope these findings could lead to new routes and insights into making better superconductors that work at higher temperatures.
Dr Stephen Clark, theoretical physicist at the University of Bath, worked with his experimental physicist colleagues to try to understand how superconductivity might emerge when the material is exposed to laser radiation.
He explained: "Superconductors currently only work at very low temperatures, requiring expensive cryogenics -- if we can design materials that superconduct at higher temperatures, or even room temperature, it would eliminate the need for cooling, which would make them less expensive and more practical to use in a variety of applications.
"Our research has shown we can use lasers to make a material into a superconductor at much higher temperatures than it would do naturally. But having taken this first step, my colleagues and I will be trying to find other superconductors that can be coerced to work at even higher temperatures, possibly even at room temperature.
"Whilst this is a small piece of a very large puzzle, our findings provide a new pathway for engineering and controlling superconductivity that might help stimulate future breakthroughs."
91 per cent of physics research from the University of Bath was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent by the in the recent independently-assessed Research Excellence Framework 2014.
###
The research was led by the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, (Hamburg, Germany). Other collaborating institutions were: The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (Hamburg, Germany), INSTM UdR Trieste-ST and Elettra -- Sincrotrone Trieste (Trieste, Italy), Università di Roma "Sapienza" (Rome, Italy), Università degli Studi di Parma (Italy), University of Bath, (Bath UK), Oxford University (Oxford, UK), National University of Singapore.
European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme funded the study.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Vicky Just
44-012-253-86883
Copyright © University of Bath
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related Links |
Related News Press |
News and information
Electrifying results shed light on graphene foam as a potential material for lab grown cartilage June 6th, 2025
Quantum computers simulate fundamental physics: shedding light on the building blocks of nature June 6th, 2025
A 1960s idea inspires NBI researchers to study hitherto inaccessible quantum states June 6th, 2025
Superconductivity
Lattice-driven charge density wave fluctuations far above the transition temperature in Kagome superconductor April 25th, 2025
Researchers observe “locked” electron pairs in a superconductor cuprate August 16th, 2024
Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy
Electrifying results shed light on graphene foam as a potential material for lab grown cartilage June 6th, 2025
Institute for Nanoscience hosts annual proposal planning meeting May 16th, 2025
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Possible Futures
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers several steps closer to harnessing patient's own T-cells to fight off cancer June 6th, 2025
Researchers unveil a groundbreaking clay-based solution to capture carbon dioxide and combat climate change June 6th, 2025
Cambridge chemists discover simple way to build bigger molecules – one carbon at a time June 6th, 2025
A 1960s idea inspires NBI researchers to study hitherto inaccessible quantum states June 6th, 2025
Discoveries
Researchers unveil a groundbreaking clay-based solution to capture carbon dioxide and combat climate change June 6th, 2025
Cambridge chemists discover simple way to build bigger molecules – one carbon at a time June 6th, 2025
Electrifying results shed light on graphene foam as a potential material for lab grown cartilage June 6th, 2025
A 1960s idea inspires NBI researchers to study hitherto inaccessible quantum states June 6th, 2025
Announcements
Electrifying results shed light on graphene foam as a potential material for lab grown cartilage June 6th, 2025
Quantum computers simulate fundamental physics: shedding light on the building blocks of nature June 6th, 2025
A 1960s idea inspires NBI researchers to study hitherto inaccessible quantum states June 6th, 2025
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Cambridge chemists discover simple way to build bigger molecules – one carbon at a time June 6th, 2025
Electrifying results shed light on graphene foam as a potential material for lab grown cartilage June 6th, 2025
Quantum computers simulate fundamental physics: shedding light on the building blocks of nature June 6th, 2025
A 1960s idea inspires NBI researchers to study hitherto inaccessible quantum states June 6th, 2025
Grants/Sponsored Research/Awards/Scholarships/Gifts/Contests/Honors/Records
New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices September 13th, 2024
Physicists unlock the secret of elusive quantum negative entanglement entropy using simple classical hardware August 16th, 2024
Atomic force microscopy in 3D July 5th, 2024
Photonics/Optics/Lasers
Institute for Nanoscience hosts annual proposal planning meeting May 16th, 2025
Programmable electron-induced color router array May 14th, 2025
Research partnerships
HKU physicists uncover hidden order in the quantum world through deconfined quantum critical points April 25th, 2025
SMART researchers pioneer first-of-its-kind nanosensor for real-time iron detection in plants February 28th, 2025
![]() |
||
![]() |
||
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
![]() |
![]() |
||
Premium Products | ||
![]() |
||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
![]() |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
![]() |