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High-temperature superconductivity

The sound of a hidden order

Nature volume 498, pages 41–42 (2013)Cite this article

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Ultrasound measurements in a copper oxide superconductor have revealed an exotic phase of matter, composed of loops of spontaneous quantum currents, that has hitherto excelled at evading observation. See Letter p.75

Rigid things are obvious in the human world, but nature allows for circumstances in which hardness gets a quantum-physics twist. The electron systems formed in copper oxide compounds became famous with the discovery in 1986 that these materials become superconductors at high temperature. But this turned out to be only the tip of the iceberg: the intensive research that ensued revealed surprise after surprise. It became clear that the strongly interacting electrons of these systems form the building blocks of a plethora of exotic phases of matter that are shaped by the weirdness of quantum mechanics1. On page 75 of this issue, Shekhter et al.2 present conclusive evidence for the existence of one such phase — one that breaks 'quantum-spookiness' records. Driven by a quantum effect known as zero-point motion, the electrons in this phase organize themselves into patterns formed from spontaneous current loops, and the phase transition in which this electronic order sets in leaves an unambiguous mark on the sound waves travelling through the copper oxide lattice.

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Figure 1: Electronic order.

References

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  1. Jan Zaanen is at the Instituut Lorentz for Theoretical Physics, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, 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. The sound of a hidden order. Nature 498, 41–42 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/498041a

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