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Since the discovery of superconductivity does something more than a centurymaterials with these types of characteristics have obsessed physicists. It is no wonder, since it is one of the more exotic phenomenabut also with enormous practical potential. The reason? They are materials that, when under certain temperature conditions, conduct electricity without resisting.
Since there is no resistance, there is no loss of energy, but they also have other peculiarities such as “Meissner effect” which eliminates the flux of the magnetic field inside a magnet, allowing it to levitate above a superconductor. The problem is that conventional superconductors show their ‘superpowers’ at extremely low temperatures, requiring liquid helium to cool.
That is why the scientific community has spent decades exploring the world of unconventional superconductors. They are those based on iron, some heavy metals and organic materials, many of them with complex crystalline structures and unusual electronic properties, but the most important thing is that the critical temperature is higher.
And that is precisely what they have uncovered researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University.
New unconventional superconductor
By combining zirconium with different proportions of iron and nickel, researchers have been able to create a new superconductor that features a dome-shaped phase diagram. This means that it is a non-conventional superconductor, which implies that, to appreciate its potential, it is not necessary to lower the temperature extremely with liquid helium, but rather with liquid nitrogen.
Superconductor structure
It still requires a low critical temperature, but it is easier to maintain this temperature with liquid nitrogen. Furthermore, what is really relevant is that, for the first time, it has been demonstrated that a polycrystalline alloy of iron, nickel and zirconium has superconducting properties, something that neither iron nor nickel zirconide, which are not superconductors in crystalline form, have. .
This advance is interesting because understanding and studying the unconventional superconductors It is crucial in order to push the temperature limit at which they can operate without losing their faculties, facilitating their arrival in practical applications such as advanced electronic devices, transport systems or superconducting cables.
Furthermore, understanding the mechanisms behind unconventional superconductivity can lead to the discovery of superconducting materials at room temperature. This is the current goal of physics and it is something that we have been researching for yearssince it would be quite a revolution transmit electricity and energy without loss and without having to dissipate heat.
The applications of room temperature superconductivity are immense. For example, facilitating the creation of nuclear fusion reactorselectric motors and any type of electrical system much more efficient. Also, accelerate quantum computing, particle accelerators, energy storage in superconducting coils, magnetic levitation devices or the possibility of transmitting electricity immediately, even with sources very far from cities.
And steps have been taken in this regard, such as the superconductor that could operate at a comfortable 14.5 degrees Celsius. The problem with this superconductor was that it needed a pressure of 39 million psi, which would be equivalent, more or less, to 2.65 million times normal atmospheric pressure.
An outrage, wow, but the good thing is that the industry is dedicated to evolving these unconventional superconductors and it seems that they are getting closer to being useful on a daily basis.
Of course, there is still a way to go.
Images | Eurekalert, Julien Bobroff
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