Physicists have identified the "quantum glue" that underlies a promising type of superconductivity -- a crucial step towards the creation of energy superhighways that conduct electricity without current loss.
Their results pointed to magnetism as the force underlying the superconductivity in an unconventional superconductor consisting of cerium, cobalt and indium, with the molecular formula CeCoIn5.
"For a long time, we were unable to develop a detailed theoretical understanding of this unconventional superconductor," said Morr, who is principal investigator on the study. Two crucial insights into the complex electronic structure of CeCoIn5 were missing, he said: the relation between the momentum and energy of electrons moving through the material, and the 'quantum glue' that binds the electrons into a Cooper pair.
Those questions were answered after the Davis group developed high-precision measurements of CeCoIn5 using a scanning tunneling spectroscopy technique called quasi-particle interference spectroscopy. Analysis of the spectra using a novel theoretical framework developed by Morr and Van Dyke allowed the researchers to extract the missing pieces of the puzzle.
The new insight allowed them to explore the 30-year-old hypothesis that the quantum glue of superconductivity is the magnetic force.
Magnetism is highly directional, Morr said.
"Knowing the directional dependence of the quantum glue, we were able, for the first time, to quantitatively predict the material's superconducting properties using a series of mathematical equations," he said.
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It is actually new experimental work using quantum interferometry to provide experimental evidence for a previously hypothesised theory for unconventional superconductivity.