Magnetism holds the key to iron-based superconductor

By measuring how strongly electrons are bound together to form Cooper pairs in an iron-based superconductor, scientists at the U.S. DOE’s Brookhaven National Lab and other universities provide evidence supporting theories in which magnetism holds the key to this material’s ability to carry current with no resistance. Central to testing the theoretical conditions, the measurements take into account the electronic bands and directions the electrons are traveling. The findings strengthen confidence that this type of theory may one day be used to identify new materials with improved properties — namely, superconductors operating at far higher temperatures. Conventional superconductors must be chilled to near absolute zero, so as scientists began discovering materials that could carry current with no resistance at temperatures somewhat above this operating realm, their eagerness to understand the mechanism underlying so-called high-temperature superconductivity has increased.