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Nature 406, 467-468 (3 August 2000) | doi:10.1038/35020173

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High-temperature superconductors: Some vortices like it hot

Patrick A. Lee

The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, in a family of compounds containing copper–oxygen layers1, triggered intense research into these copper oxides. It has become increasingly clear that the high-temperature superconductors are not just conventional superconductors with a higher superconducting-transition temperature, Tc — the point at which electrons pair up and begin to flow without resistance — but are fundamentally different beasts.