Cooking up 'frustrated' magnets in search of superconductivity
Duke physics professor Sara Haravifard is mixing, cooking, squishing and freezing "frustrated" magnetic crystals in search of the origins of superconductivity.
Superconductivity refers to the ability of electrons to travel endlessly through certain materials, called superconductors, without adding any energy鈥攖hink of a car that can drive forever with no gas or electricity. And just the way gas-less, charge-less cars would make travel vastly cheaper, superconductivity has the potential to revolutionize electronics and energy industry.
But superconductors are extremely rare, and are usually only superconductive at extremely cold temperatures鈥攖oo cold for any but a few highly specialized applications. A few "high-temperature" superconductors have been discovered, but scientists are still flummoxed at why and how these superconductors exist.
Haravifard hopes that her magnet experiments will reveal the origins of high-temperature superconductivity so that researchers can design and build new materials with this amazing property. In the process, her team may also discover materials that are useful in quantum computing, or even entirely new states of matter.
Provided by Duke University
