Laser-activated superconductor created

UK scientists have produced a laser-activated superconductor that can operate at higher temperatures than near absolute zero.

Superconductors possess strong magnetic fields and are able to conduct electricity without power loss, but usually only work at temperatures below 30°K, and require liquid nitrogen or helium to regulate their temperature.

During the research, a laser was shone at potassium and carbon arranged in a bucky-ball formation and researchers found it was still superconducting at more than 100°K.

Dr Stephen Clark, from the University of Bath, said:  “Our research has shown we can use lasers to make a material into a superconductor at much higher temperatures than it would do naturally.

“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.”

It is hoped this discovery will lead to superconductors that could work at room temperature. This would eliminate the need to have them cooled to very low temperatures resulting in superconductors being less expensive and more widely used.

Dr Clark said: “While 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.”

Currently superconductors are used in a small number of scientific instruments such as medical scanners and particle accelerators and have also found a use in Maglev trains – trains that use electromagnets to levitate above the tracks to travel.

The research was carried out in association with the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, also involving Oxford University.

The findings were published in Nature.