Superconductors act like high-speed trains for electricity. When electric current enters one, it moves through effortlessly without losing energy. Because of this, superconductors are incredibly efficient and are already used in technologies such as MRI scanners and particle accelerators.
However, the superconductors used today have a major drawback: they only function at extremely low temperatures. To stay in their superconducting state, they must be cooled with complex, costly systems. If scientists could create materials that superconduct at warmer, near-room temperatures, the result could revolutionize technology—leading to energy grids and power lines with zero loss, and making quantum computers far more practical. Researchers at MIT and around the world are now focusing on “unconventional” superconductors, materials that behave differently from traditional ones and may hold the key to this next leap.
MIT physicists have now announced compelling new evidence of unconventional superconductivity in “magic-angle” twisted tri-layer graphene (MATTG), a material built by stacking three ultrathin sheets of graphene at a precise angle. This subtle twist creates surprising electronic properties that cannot be found in ordinary materials.
Although earlier experiments had hinted at unusual superconductivity in MATTG, the new results, published in Science, provide the strongest proof yet that this material truly hosts an unconventional form of superconductivity.
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