Monday, March 16, 2009

Type 1.5 Superconductor?

If you are not fascinated about superconductivity and think that it is one of the most complex and rich system that we currently know, then you're missing A LOT!

We know about Type I superconductors and Type II superconductors. But a group of researchers have concluded that MgB2 is a Type 1.5 superconductor! It appears that MgB2 can be a Type I and a Type II at the same time! It arises due to the fact that this compound has two different bands that are responsible for superconductivity. The paper argued that a Type I superconductivity resides on one band, and a Type II superconductivity resides in the other.

If this is true, it will be the first time we have observed a material exhibiting this new superconducting state. And added another level of unexpected complexity and richness to the field of study.

Zz.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi

Your readers might be interested in the Viewpoint commentary on this paper that appears in Physics:

http://physics.aps.org/articles/v2/22

A free copy of the paper can be obtained through this link.

David Voss
Editor
Physics