Phys.org March 9, 2022
In the case of the superconducting material yttrium barium copper oxide, or YBCO, experiments have shown that under certain conditions, knocking it out of equilibrium with a laser pulse allows it to superconduct at much closer to room temperature than researchers expected. YBCO switches from a normal to a superconducting state when chilled below a certain transition temperature or it can be switched off with a pulse of light. An international team of researchers (South Korea, USA – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Japan, Germany) compared the two switching approaches (exposing to high magnetic field and laser light) by focusing on how they affect the charge density waves (CDW). They measured the properties of the undisturbed material, including its CWD. The results showed that exposing the samples to magnetism or light generated similar 3D patterns of CDWs. According to the researchers although how and why this happens is still not understood, the results demonstrate that the states induced by either approach have the same fundamental physics. They suggest that laser light might be a good way to create and explore transient states that could be stabilized for practical applications—including, potentially, room-temperature superconductivity…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Schematic experimental configuration for YBCO sample… Credit: Sci Adv. 2022 Feb; 8(6): eabk0832