Scientists believe so called triplet superconductors could open the door to the most energy efficient technologies ever developed.<\/p>\n
“A triplet superconductor is high on the wish list of many physicists working in the field of solid state physics,” said Professor Jacob Linder.<\/p>\n
Linder is a physicist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU’ Department of Physics, where he works at QuSpin — a research centre that brings together some of the university’s leading researchers.<\/p>\n
“Materials that are triplet superconductors are a kind of ‘holy grail’ in quantum technology, and more specifically quantum computing,” explained Linder.<\/p>\n
Researchers around the world are eager to confirm the existence of such materials. Now Linder and his team believe they may be getting close.<\/p>\n
“We think we may have observed a triplet superconductor,” said Professor Linder.<\/p>\n
If verified, the finding would represent a major step forward for quantum science.<\/p>\n
Stabilizing Quantum Technology With Spin<\/p>\n
Linder’s research focuses on quantum materials and their potential use in spintronics and advanced quantum devices. Spintronics relies on spin, a fundamental property of electrons, to carry and process information in ways that differ from today’s conventional electronics.<\/p>\n
Spin can also play an important role in quantum technology, especially when paired with superconductors. However, one of the biggest obstacles has been instability.<\/p>\n
“One of the major challenges in quantum technology today is finding a way to perform computer operations with sufficient accuracy,” explained Linder.<\/p>\n
Triplet superconductors could help solve that problem.<\/p>\n
Working with experimental collaborators in Italy, Linder co authored a study published in Physical Review Letters. The paper was selected as one of the journal’s editor’s recommendations.<\/p>\n
“Triplet superconductors make a number of unusual physical phenomena possible. These phenomena have important applications in quantum technology and spintronics,” said Linder.<\/p>\n
Conventional vs Triplet Superconductors<\/p>\n
Traditional superconductors allow electricity to flow without measurable resistance. In practical terms, this means electrical current can move without losing energy as heat. While extremely useful, conventional superconductors have limitations.<\/p>\n
Conventional superconductors are known as ‘singlet superconductors’. In simple terms, this means the superconducting particles do not carry spin.<\/p>\n
Triplet superconductors are different because their superconducting particles do carry spin.<\/p>\n
So why does that matter?<\/p>\n
“The fact that triplet superconductors have spin has an important consequence. We can now transport not only electrical currents but also spin currents with absolutely zero resistance,” explained Linder.<\/p>\n
That ability could make it possible to transmit information using spin without any energy loss. In turn, extremely fast computers could operate using almost no electricity at all.<\/p>\n
NbRe Alloy Shows Promising Signs<\/p>\n
“In our published article, we demonstrate that the material NbRe exhibits properties consistent with triplet superconductivity,” said Linder.<\/p>\n
NbRe is a niobium-rhenium alloy, and both elements are rare metals.<\/p>\n
“It is still too early to conclude once and for all whether the material is a triplet superconductor. Among other things, the finding must be verified by other experimental groups. It is also necessary to carry out further triplet superconductivity tests,” explained Linder.<\/p>\n
Even so, the results are encouraging.<\/p>\n
“Our experimental research demonstrates that the material behaves completely differently from what we would expect for a conventional singlet superconductor,” added Linder.<\/p>\n
Superconductivity at 7 Kelvin<\/p>\n
“Another advantage of this material is that it superconducts at a relatively high temperature,” said Linder, though what counts as high temperature in this field may sound surprising.<\/p>\n
Here, ‘high temperature’ refers to 7 Kelvin (K), just above absolute zero at -273.15 degrees Celsius. In the world of superconductivity, that is comparatively warm. Other potential triplet superconductors require temperatures close to 1K, making 7K far more practical and attainable.<\/p>\n
Taken together, the findings from NTNU suggest that the long sought triplet superconductor may finally be within reach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists believe so called triplet superconductors could open the door to the most energy efficient technologies ever developed.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[2302,90,159683,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-438268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-physics","8":"tag-physics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-spintronics-physics-thermodynamics-consumer-electronics-spintronics-research-computers-and-internet-computer-science-math-puzzles","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}