Scientists for the first time achieved short-term superconductivity at room temperature.

A joint group of scientists from the Hamburg Institute. Max Planck obtained, albeit a very short-term, effect of superconductivity at room temperature. To do this, they irradiated infrared laser pulses with a ceramic superconductor. The experiment used a known material, yttrium-barium-copper oxide or YBCO. This site tells the institute .

YBCO material was received in 1987. It is called a “high-temperature” superconductor, since it allows one to achieve this effect at temperatures 70 degrees above absolute zero. The crystal structure of the material consists of double layers of copper oxide, interspersed with layers containing barium with copper and oxygen. Superconductivity occurs in double layers of copper oxide. Here the electrons form Cooper pairs , which tunnel through the material without resistance. But all this magic happens only when temperatures reach about -200C.

However, as scientists have found, laser pulses affect the behavior of pairs of electrons. The exact mechanism of this effect was found out after a series of experiments using a high-power x-ray laser. Roman Mankovsky, the lead author of the study, says: “We applied infrared pulses to a crystal, which led to the excitation of some atoms and their oscillations. After a short period of time, we applied a short X-ray pulse to measure the exact structure of the excited crystal. ”
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It turned out that infrared pulses did not just excite atoms, but also moved them from their places in the crystal. This led to the fact that the layers of copper dioxide became slightly thicker, by two picometers, and the layer between them became thinner by the same amount. This led to an increase in the number of quantum pairs between the layers, which led to the appearance of superconductivity by several picoseconds.

On the one hand, the study adds information to the piggy bank of knowledge about superconductors. On the other hand, as Mankovsky says, “he can help scientists who develop materials create new superconductors with a higher operating temperature. And finally, realize the dream of a superconductor at room temperature that does not require cooling. ”