A team of physicists, including Neil Harrison and Charles Mielke of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MPA-NHMFL), propose a new model that expands on a little-understood aspect of the electronic structure in high-temperature superconductors. The research represents a step toward figuring out the mechanics of superconductivity - the phenomenon that could revolutionize energy efficiency in such areas as mass transportation, electricity transmission, and power storage.
The team, which includes scientists from Cambridge University, the University of British Columbia, and the NHMFL, reports its findings in the July 10 edition of Nature in a letter titled "A multi-component Fermi surface in the vortex state of an underdoped high-Tc superconductor."
Since the discovery of ceramic materials containing copper oxide that can conduct electricity with no resistance at relatively high temperatures - at least above the temperature of liquid nitrogen (approximately -320° F) - it has been thought that changes in the behavior of a single carrier type were governing this unusual property. Now, this multinational group of collaborators has put forth the idea that two types of carriers may be involved.
The NHMFL is a joint research venture sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy with campuses at the Laboratory, Florida State University, and the University of Florida.
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