Superconductors are one major step closer to practical use, thanks to new work from Columbia University physicists that could usher in a technological future of wireless charging vehicles, efficient energy transmission, and exponentially faster computers through more efficient electron transfer.
Currently, most technologies rely on semiconductors to transmit energy in chips, transistors, and diodes, which are subject to energy loss and moderate transfer speeds. Superconductors offer almost perfectly lossless energy transmission yet remain out of reach for routine use due to their need for extreme cold or pressure and scientists’ incomplete understanding of their operating properties.
Researchers have identified some pure elements, namely lead, tin, and aluminum, as superconductors, along with exotic manufactured compounds like niobium-titanium. However, the frigid or high-pressure conditions required to operate these materials as superconductors have left them only utilized in a handful of real-world applications, including MRI machines, particle accelerators, and electromagnetic levitating trains.
Even in this handful of use cases, superconductors remain costly and difficult to work with. Physicists’ lack of understanding of how superconductors work has made it difficult to design materials that retain the superconducting properties at lower price points and greater ease of use, which would enhance their practicality.
Before the Columbia team began their research, MIT physicist Pablo Jarillo-Herrera, formerly of MIT, produced groundbreaking superconductor research that inspired the team. Jarillo-Herrera studied the novel material graphene, consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms. The researcher discovered that by stacking graphene in two or three layers and then precisely twisting the sheets, he could imbue the substance with superconductivity.
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