The world desperately needs a room-temperature superconductor—a material that exhibits no electrical resistance at atmospheric temperatures and pressure. But it isn’t easy to find.
Luckily, according to a new study examining the fundamental constants of the universe, nothing in physics limits the existence of such a material.
Because these constants dictate the upper limit of phonon frequencies, scientists could extrapolate that the max critical temperature (TC) for superconductors should exist somewhere in the range of 100 to 1000 Kelvin (approximately -280 to 1340 °F).
Since April 8, 1911, when Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes famously wrote in his research notes “mercury practically zero” to denote the lack of electrical resistance in liquid helium, the science world has been fascinated with the possibility of one day discovering a room-temperature superconductor.
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In the century since Kamerlingh Onnes’ initial discovery, scientists have made some progress in that arena. In the 1980s, for example, copper oxides were discovered to be high temperature superconductors (though they still require temperatures far below what you and I would consider comfortable). And in recent years, the intense desire for the discovery of a room temperature superconductor has created a kind “boy who cried wolf” problem in condensed matter physics. In 2023, Nature published a retraction for a controversial paper proclaiming the possibility of a such a superconductor (though, under atmospheric pressures), and that same year, South Korean researchers dubbed the material “LK-99” as another possible superconductor candidate (spoiler: it wasn’t).
This century-long search—which would easily nab anyone the Nobel Prize if they could discover such a material—has led some scientists to ponder a more basic question: do the limits of physics even allow for the creation of a room temperature superconductor? A new study, published in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, examines this question by analyzing the fundamental constants in nature, such as the Planck constant, electron charge, and electron mass. Thankfully, the end result shows that the upper limit of superconductivity resides somewhere in the range of 100 to 1000 Kelvin (approximately -280 to 1340 °F). For those keeping track, room temperature is around 293 Kelvin.
“This discovery tells us that room-temperature superconductivity is not ruled out by fundamental constants,” University of Cambridge’s Chris Pickard, a co-author of this study, said in a press statement. “It gives hope to scientists: the dream is still alive.”
Understanding these constants is vital to understanding the critical temperature (TC) at which materials become superconductors. These constants govern everything from the stability of atoms to the formation of stars, and they also control the upper limit of phonon frequencies, which is what forms a bound pair of electrons known as “cooper pairs” (the metaphorical engine of superconductivity). Because these constants can determine how fast atoms vibrate, scientists can use them to extrapolate how high TC could possibly get.
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Setting the upper limit of TC in this 100 to 1000 Kelvin range is also pretty convenient—even in spite of room-temperature superconductors being so difficult to discover. As the researchers describe in the press statement, in a universe where TC is only millionths of a degree higher than absolute zero, we may never have detected superconductivity at all. However, a super-high TC would mean electrical resistance (which is also very important for a variety of applications, like heating) would be similarly difficult to ascertain.
“The wire would superconduct instead of heating up,” Kostya Trachenko, lead author of the study from Queen Mary University of London, said in a press statement. “Boiling water for tea would be a very different challenge.”
So, at the very least, the search for this “holy grail” of superconductors isn’t unfounded. The physics of the universe gives us hope that one day, we’ll discover this long-held secret.
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Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.