The history of room-temperature superconductivity is a history of disappointment. Since 1986, when the field was electrified by the discovery of high-temperature ceramic superconductors, the dream of a material that conducts electricity without resistance at ambient conditions has repeatedly seemed within reach — and repeatedly slipped away. Two high-profile claims in the past three years were retracted after other labs failed to reproduce the results.
One team, working out of a materials science institute in Osaka, believes they have something different this time.
What makes this claim different
Previous claims relied on measurements that turned out to have subtle artifacts. The Osaka group’s paper, now in peer review, includes four independent measurement techniques applied by three separate instruments, including a SQUID magnetometer that was independently calibrated. They have also shared samples with two other institutions, both of which have confirmed the key magnetic signature of superconductivity.
The material is a layered hydride compound, synthesized under pressure, that the team says retains its superconducting properties when pressure is slowly released — a step that defeated earlier candidates. If confirmed, it would be the first material to achieve this.
Why it matters
Superconductors carry current without losing energy to resistance. The practical implications of a room-temperature version are almost too large to enumerate: lossless power transmission, dramatically more efficient motors and generators, MRI machines that don’t require liquid helium, computers that generate almost no heat. The global electricity transmission system loses roughly eight percent of all power generated to resistance in the wires. A superconducting grid would recover most of that.
The field has been burned before. Researchers who have spent careers in this area are careful with their optimism. But the Osaka group’s data, circulating in preprint form since last month, has generated unusual interest — and unusual caution about saying, out loud, that this time might be different.
