Opening a new window into superconductivity by reimagining a classic tool

Key Points:

• Harvard physicists have developed a novel method using diamond anvil cells with quantum sensors to study superconductors at high pressures, providing unprecedented microscopic insights into their behavior.
• Their research focused on nickelate superconductors, which exhibit superconductivity only under extreme pressures and have shown uneven, localized superconducting regions within samples.
• The team discovered that superconductivity in nickelates is influenced by local stresses, particularly shear stress, explaining previously puzzling inconsistencies in experimental results.
• This technique allows mapping of superconducting behavior at micron scales and could accelerate the development of more efficient superconducting materials potentially operable at ambient conditions.
• The findings represent a significant step toward the longstanding goal of creating room-temperature superconductors, with broad implications for energy transmission and advanced technologies