UIUC physicists report 1st observation of PDWs above critical temperature
Physicists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign just made a big leap in understanding superconductors.
Their new study shows that special electron pairs, called Cooper pairs, can form unique patterns known as pair density waves (PDWs), even after the main superconducting state disappears.
This is the first time PDWs have been spotted hanging around above the usual "critical temperature," opening up fresh ideas about how unconventional superconductors work.
Researchers see PDWs persist in UTe2
Using advanced microscopy on uranium ditelluride, the team watched these PDWs respond to changes in temperature and magnetic fields, sticking around longer than expected.
This challenges old ideas about how electrons behave when a material stops being a superconductor and could open new directions for studying unconventional superconductivity.