Emory Physicists have identified a mechanism for the formation of oscillating superconductivity known as pair-density waves. Physical Review Letters published the discovery, which provides new insight into an unconventional, superconductive state seen in certain materials, including high-temperature superconductors.
“We discovered that structures known as Van Hove singularities can produce modulating, oscillating states of superconductivity,” says Luiz Santos, assistant professor of physics at Emory University and senior author of the study. “Our work provides a new theoretical framework for understanding the emergence of this behavior, a phenomenon that is not well understood.”
First author of the study is Pedro Castro, an Emory physics graduate student. Co-authors include Daniel Shaffer, a postdoctoral fellow in the Santos group, and Yi-Ming Wu from Stanford University.
The work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Read more at Emory News.