Magnesium diboride: A serendipitous superconductor

Every so often, it seems, a paper in the field of superconductivity sets off feverish activity as labs around the world hasten to reproduce the results and to go on to further new discoveries. It's that time again. A group from the Department of Physics at Aoyama-Gakuin University, Tokyo, reports bulk superconductivity in magnesium diboride (MgB₂) at 39 K — the highest transition temperature so far achieved in a bulk non-copper oxide superconductor. And unlike the previous 'record holder', electron-doped Cs_xRb_yC₆₀ at 33 K, this 'new' superconductor is a material readily available from your local chemicals stockist.

Superconductivity at 39K in magnesium diboride
JUN NAGAMATSU, NORIMASA NAKAGAWA, TAKAHIRO MURANAKA, YUJI ZENITANI, JUN AKIMITSU
Nature 410, 63-64 (1 March 2001)
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Genie in a bottle
ROBERT J. CAVA
An overlooked compound has a surprise in store for physicists. It becomes superconducting at a much higher temperature than any other stable metallic compound.
Nature 410, 23-24 (1 March 2001)
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1 March 2001 table of contents