Apr 30, 2026 03:53 PM
https://connectsci.au/news/news-parent/9...chresult=1
INTRO: A quantum material’s bizarre properties have been explained for the first time, opening the door to next-generation technologies.
Uranium ditelluride (UTe2) is a superconductor – a material which, at low enough temperatures, allows electric current to flow without any resistance. It is also part of a special class of “unconventional superconductors” which display superconductivity not explained by the quantum Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory which is normally used to describe the physics of superconductors.
For example, the theory explains that superconductors lose their zero-resistance state in the presence of magnetic fields. Even among unconventional superconductors, UTe2 is unique. It is the only superconductor known to have a special superconducting state which reappears at extremely high magnetic fields.
UTe2 loses its superconductivity at magnetic fields of about 10 Telsa. It re-enters a superconducting state at fields between 40 and 70T. For comparison, 1T is strong enough to lift a car. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) sought to understand what is happening when UTe2 is exhibiting this “re-entrant superconductivity” phenomenon.
Their findings are published in Nature Communications. UTe2 was discovered in 2019. Its properties have had materials scientists scratching their heads ever since... (MORE -details)
INTRO: A quantum material’s bizarre properties have been explained for the first time, opening the door to next-generation technologies.
Uranium ditelluride (UTe2) is a superconductor – a material which, at low enough temperatures, allows electric current to flow without any resistance. It is also part of a special class of “unconventional superconductors” which display superconductivity not explained by the quantum Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory which is normally used to describe the physics of superconductors.
For example, the theory explains that superconductors lose their zero-resistance state in the presence of magnetic fields. Even among unconventional superconductors, UTe2 is unique. It is the only superconductor known to have a special superconducting state which reappears at extremely high magnetic fields.
UTe2 loses its superconductivity at magnetic fields of about 10 Telsa. It re-enters a superconducting state at fields between 40 and 70T. For comparison, 1T is strong enough to lift a car. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) sought to understand what is happening when UTe2 is exhibiting this “re-entrant superconductivity” phenomenon.
Their findings are published in Nature Communications. UTe2 was discovered in 2019. Its properties have had materials scientists scratching their heads ever since... (MORE -details)