Superconductors show unexpected electronic asymmetry

Physicists from Rice University, Kyoto University and the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) are offering new details about similarities between the electronic properties of a new iron-based high-temperature superconductor (HTS) and its copper-based cousins. The researchers found that its electronic properties were different in the horizontal and vertical directions. This was done while investigating a recently discovered iron-based HTS. The electronic asymmetry was measured across a wide range of temperatures. The asymmetry was also found in materials that were doped to encourage superconductivity. Ongoing research can probe answers to the mysteries of high-temperature superconductivity.