Science / Medicine : Superconducting Material

Scientists have found superconductivity at relatively high temperatures in a material that lacks copper, suggesting new routes toward making superconducting compounds practical.

“There’s a whole new ball field that’s opened up now to be exploring,” said Paul Fleury of AT&T; Bell Laboratories.

The find broadens the range of potential ingredients for superconductors, and its atomic structure suggests that it may be easier to make into wires and other useful products than previously known materials, scientists said.

In their search for superconducting materials that do not have to be supercooled, scientists have focused on copper-bearing compounds. The copper-free material also shows evidence of superconductivity at minus 406 degrees, a sharp increase over the previous record for non-copper materials, it was reported in the British journal Nature.