New superconducting superconductors

Superconductivity means that a material can conduct electricity without resistance.
Certain metals can become superconducting when they are cooled down to almost absolute zero at 273 degrees below zero. However, it is very difficult to work with. In recent years we have discovered some new materials that can become superconducting without having to be cooled down so much. Superconductivity is not just physics in the classical sense, it’s quantum physics and thus has a completely different way of functioning.

What kind of microscopic mechanisms at work in the material is still a mystery.

Host: Brian Møller Andersen, Solid-state physicist, Niels Bohr Institute
Produced with support from: the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation.
Produced by: The Compound for the Niels Bohr Institute, 2013 
Length: 09:58