Chinese physicists say they have created a new type of high-temperature superconductor at ambient pressure based on nickel – a breakthrough in the field.
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It makes nickel just the third class of materials – after cuprates, or copper oxide-based materials, and iron-based materials – to achieve superconductivity above the threshold of minus 233 degrees Celsius (minus 387 Fahrenheit) at ambient or “normal” pressure, according to state media.
“Our findings pave the way for comprehensive investigations of nickelate superconductors under ambient pressure conditions and for exploring superconductivity at higher transition temperature,” the researchers said in an early access manuscript published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on February 17.
The team from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen said the finding could open up further research into the mechanisms behind superconductivity and applications.
Superconductivity is the phenomenon where a material has zero electrical resistance and repels magnetic fields when its temperature is lowered to a critical value.
Superconductors have wide potential to be used in a variety of fields including power transmission, making magnets for fusion reactors, and developing levitating trains.
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