Superconductivity is an exceptional phenomenon where an electric circuit loses its resistance and in some situations it becomes highly efficient. There are various ways in which this can happen that was supposed to be inconsistent. For the first time, researchers are finding a bridge between these two methods to achieve superconductivity. This new knowledge can lead to a more general understanding of the phenomenon and a day for application.
If you are like most people, there are three states of matter in your daily life: solid, liquid and gas. You are familiar with the fourth state of the so-called object Plasma, Which is as hot as a gas, all the constituent atoms of which are separated from each other, leaving behind a super hot mess of subatomic particles. But do you know about the so-called fifth position of the object at the exact opposite end of the thermometer? It is known as Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC).
“BEC is a unique state of matter, because it is not made up of particles, but waves,” said Kozo Okazaki, an associate professor at the Institute of Solid State Physics at the University of Tokyo. “As they cool near Absolute zero, The atoms of certain substances smell in space. These odors extend to the atoms – now like waves rather than particles – overlapping, becoming inseparable from each other. The resulting substance behaves as if it were a single entity with new properties, lacking a solid, liquid, or gaseous state such as superconduction. Until recently superconducting BECs were purely theoretical, but now we use them in labs with innovative materials based on iron and selenium (a nonmetallic element). “
Polarized light images show researchers how the electrons represented by the red cross, in their test specimens, behave under different circumstances. Credit: 20 2020 Okazaki et al.
This is the first time that a BEC has been experimentally tested to act as a superconductor; However, other manifestations of substances, or regimes, can also give birth to superconduction. The Burden-Cooper-Schreifer (BCS) regime is an arrangement in which the component atoms slow down and line up when cooled near absolute zero, allowing electrons to pass more easily. This effectively brings the electrical resistance of such materials to zero. Both BCS and BEC require cooling-cooling conditions and both involve molecular slowing. But this regime is otherwise quite different. For a long time, researchers believed that a more general understanding of superconduction could be achieved if these rulers were somehow overlapped.
“The demonstration of BEC’s superconductivity was a means to an end; We really hope to explore the overlap between BEC and BCS, ”Okazaki said. “It was very challenging, but our unique devices and methods of observation have tested it – this is a smooth transition between regimes. And this points to the general underlying principle behind superconducting. It’s an exciting time to work in this field.”
These colored lines are not just for show, they tell researchers what temperatures below, in this case 10 kelvins, show a sample superconducting behavior. Credit: 20 2020 Okazaki et al.
Okazaki and his team used the method of ultrallope temperature and high-energy resolution laser-based photomission spectroscopy to observe the way electrons behave during the transition of materials from BCS to BEC. Electrons behave differently in two regimes and the change between them helps to fill a few spaces in the larger picture of superconducting.
Superconducting is not just a laboratory curiosity; Superconducting devices such as electromagnets are already used in the application, the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator, is one example. However, as explained above, this requires ultracold temperatures that restrict the development of superconducting devices that we can expect to see every day. So it is not surprising that there is a great interest in finding ways to make superconductors at high temperatures, perhaps even one day at room temperature.
“With conclusive evidence from the superconducting BEC, I think it will lead other researchers to explore superconducting at higher temperatures and higher temperatures.” “It sounds like science fiction for now, but if superconductors can get closer to room temperature, our ability to generate energy will increase a lot, and our energy needs will decrease.”
References: Takahiro Hashimoto, Yuichi Ota, Akihiro Tsuzuki, Susubi Nagashima, Akiko Fukushima, Shigeru Kashara, Yusu Matsuiku, Takuasuiku, Tuxiro, Muzuiku, Tuziro Hashimoto, Science progress.
DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.abb9052
This research is supported by Grants-in-Aid (Grant Nos. JP19H00651, JP19H01818, JP18H05227, JP19H00649, JP18H01177, JP18K13492, JP20H02600) for Scientific Research (KKNH) and Quantum100. JP19H05826) and “Topological Material Science” from the Japan Society for Promotion Science (JSPS) (Grant No. JP15H05852). THA J.P.S. Accepted Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (DC2)
