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High-temperature superconductivity

Quantum salad dressing

Nature volume 415, pages 379–381 (2002)Cite this article

The mystery of how electrons in a high-temperature superconductor flow without resistance grows deeper. New pictures at the atomic scale reveal two electronic phases that — like oil and vinegar — do not easily mix.

According to quantum mechanics, when space is the same everywhere, a particle should be everywhere at the same time. In low-temperature metals and superconductors, this principle rules the waves of the quantum fluids formed by the electrons. Under such conditions, electronic fluids seem remarkably featureless and insensitive to imperfections in the material. For instance, in a conventional superconductor the structure of the crystal lattice must be severely messed up to get a noticeable response from the superconducting electrons. But the high-temperature superconductivity found in certain copper oxide compounds is different. Quantum physics is still in charge but the underlying quantum fluids do not behave like their low-temperature counterparts. On page 412 of this issue, Lang et al.1 take a direct look at this electronic fluid at the nanometre scale, using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM)2. Instead of the implacable perfection of the conventional superconductor, they find it to be rather messy.

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  1. Instituut Lorentz for Theoretical Physics, Leiden University, POB 9504, Leiden, 2300 RA, The Netherlands

    Jan Zaanen

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  1. Jan Zaanen
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Correspondence to Jan Zaanen.

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Zaanen, J. Quantum salad dressing. Nature 415, 379–381 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415379a

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