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A Material Found To Carry Current In a Way Never Before Observed (phys.org)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Scientists at the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have discovered a behavior in materials called cuprates that suggests they carry current in a way entirely different from conventional metals such as copper. The research, published today in the journal Science, adds new meaning to the materials' moniker, "strange metals." Cuprates are high-temperature superconductors (HTS), meaning they can carry current without any loss of energy at somewhat warmer temperatures than conventional, low-temperature superconductors (LTS). Although scientists understand the physics of LTS, they haven't yet cracked the nut of HTS materials. Exactly how the electrons travel through these materials remains the biggest mystery in the field.
For their research on one specific cuprate, lanthanum strontium copper oxide (LSCO), a team led by MagLab physicist Arkady Shekhter focused on its normal, metallic state -- the state from which superconductivity eventually emerges when the temperature dips low enough. This normal state of cuprates is known as a "strange" or "bad" metal, in part because the electrons don't conduct electricity particularly well. Scientists have studied conventional metals for more than a century and generally agree on how electricity travels through them. They call the units that carry charge through those metals "quasiparticles," which are essentially electrons after factoring in their environment. These quasiparticles act nearly independently of each other as they carry electric charge through a conductor. But does quasiparticle flow also explain how electric current travels in the cuprates? At the National MagLab's Pulsed Field Facility in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Shekhter and his team investigated the question. They put LSCO in a very high magnetic field, applied a current to it, then measured the resistance. The resulting data revealed that the current cannot, in fact, travel via conventional quasiparticles, as it does in copper or doped silicon. The normal metallic state of the cuprate, it appeared, was anything but normal.
For their research on one specific cuprate, lanthanum strontium copper oxide (LSCO), a team led by MagLab physicist Arkady Shekhter focused on its normal, metallic state -- the state from which superconductivity eventually emerges when the temperature dips low enough. This normal state of cuprates is known as a "strange" or "bad" metal, in part because the electrons don't conduct electricity particularly well. Scientists have studied conventional metals for more than a century and generally agree on how electricity travels through them. They call the units that carry charge through those metals "quasiparticles," which are essentially electrons after factoring in their environment. These quasiparticles act nearly independently of each other as they carry electric charge through a conductor. But does quasiparticle flow also explain how electric current travels in the cuprates? At the National MagLab's Pulsed Field Facility in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Shekhter and his team investigated the question. They put LSCO in a very high magnetic field, applied a current to it, then measured the resistance. The resulting data revealed that the current cannot, in fact, travel via conventional quasiparticles, as it does in copper or doped silicon. The normal metallic state of the cuprate, it appeared, was anything but normal.
While I understand only half of these words, advances in high temperature superconductors have the potential to have an incredible impact on an incredible amount of things, and understanding how they work is a precious first step.
Imagine super long distance lossless power lines, incredibly strong electromagnets everywhere, awesome maglev trains, and whatever repercussions this might have for electronics.
Sure, HTS still work at cryogenic temperatures, but if they can be at least made to work around the temperatures of cheap liquid nitrogen, this would be awesome!
Multiple posts, all idiots, and the freaking Article doesn't even link the free, actually readable link to the story.
All I see here anymore are political whining, Team trolling, paid positions, and bullshit.
The first actual science in a while, and no interest.
Wow.
Here's a link to ArXiv, and the original pdf:
https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.058...
Truth isn't Truth - Guliani
The debate on which direction electrons flow (to positive + or to negative -) is ALMOST as heated as vi vs EMACS. Now they want to inject a new vector? WW III commencing in 3, 2, 1...
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
"Elitists" pride themselves in having things you can't. He just corrected your fucking grammar. That's the opposite of elitism. Work on your vocabulary. You don't even have a strong enough grasp of the language to understand how wrong you are about everything.
In the spirit of Slashdot ... can we use this in a Tesla 3 battery?
Is that the new "imagine a Beowulf Cluster of..."?
Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.