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Bulk superconductivity at 120 K in the Tl–Ca/Ba–Cu–O system

Abstract

The discovery of 30-K superconductivity in the La–Ba–Cu–O system1 and 90-K superconductivity in the Y–Ba–Cu–O system2 stimulated a worldwide search for even higher-temperature superconductors. Unfortunately, most of the higher-temperature transitions reported in the past year have proved to be unstable, irreproducible, or not due to bulk superconductivity3–7. Recently, we and co-workers8,9 reported superconductivity above 90 K in a new Tl–Ba–Cu–O system, and pointed out that elemental substitutions in this system may lead to even higher-temperature superconductivity. Here we report stable and reproducible bulk superconductivity with an onset at 120 K and zero resistance above 100 K in the Tl–Ca/Ba–Cu–O system. This transition temperature is much higher than those observed for typical rare-earth-containing superconductors, and the onset temperatures are comparable to that in the Bi–Ca/Sr–Cu–O system, as reported in refs 10 and 11 (received after submission of this paper).

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Sheng, Z., Hermann, A. Bulk superconductivity at 120 K in the Tl–Ca/Ba–Cu–O system. Nature 332, 138–139 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/332138a0

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