A unique superconductor
Ytterbium exhibits a special property known as quantum criticality in its natural state.
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Key concepts A new superconductor known as YBAL exhibits a special property known as quantum criticality. YBAL displays quantum criticality in its natural state which is unusual for superconductors. The researchers used experimental data to pinpoint the position of the quantum critical point in YBALs phase diagram.
s those in the lubricant industry struggle to minimize friction, there is one class of materials that has already reached this goal known as superconductors. They are generally metallic alloys that conduct electricity without the dissipation of any heat. This phenomenon occurs at low temperatures as electrons move through the material without friction. The result is that power loss is effectively eliminated. Piers Coleman, professor of physics and astronomy at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J., says, Classic metals form a Fermi liquid named after the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi. It is a kind of incompressible quantum mechanical fluid in which the electrons are very individualistic, and none of them like to move at the same velocity or occupy the same space as others. Coleman continues, Superconductivity was first discovered 100 years ago when mercury was cooled to a critical temperature at which friction-to-electron motion vanished altogether. In a superconductor, electrons develop a new type of behavior, where they all move together in the same direction in a similar manner to a flock of birds. When they move collectively, they do so without dissipation (friction). Another important feature is that the collective flow of electrons in a superconducting material leads to the expulsion of magnetic fields from its interior. It is this property that leads to the levitation of superconductors in a magnetic fielda property of vital importance in the development of the Maglev train. Coleman indicates that many low-temperature superconductors were discovered in the past century, but in the late 1980s a new class of superconductors that develop the property at higher temperatures was discovered. These materials, of the copper oxide family, hold the current record of the superconducting transition temperature of 135 K at ambient pressure. Recently, a new class of iron-based, hightemperature superconductors was discovered, and the search for novel superconducting materials continues.
The collective flow of electrons in a superconducting material can lead to the expulsion of magnetic fields from its interior.
A previous TLT article focuses on opportunities for these high-temperature superconductors (HTS).1 Included is the use of HTS in such applications as military power systems, electric vehicles and generation systems.