Superconducting diode effect and interference patterns in kagome CsV(3)Sb(5). (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38750364/)

These scientists studied a special material called CsV(3)Sb(5) to understand how it behaves when it becomes superconductive. Superconductivity is when a material can conduct electricity without any resistance, which is very important for many technologies.

They found that this material has dynamic superconducting domains, which are like different areas where the superconductivity behaves in a certain way. These domains have boundary supercurrents, which are like currents of electricity flowing around the edges.

The scientists also discovered that when they applied a magnetic field to the material, they saw interference patterns, like the patterns you see when waves overlap in water. These patterns changed when they changed the temperature of the material.

This study suggests that this material has a special type of superconductivity that breaks a fundamental rule of physics called time-reversal symmetry. This opens up the possibility of exploring even more interesting and exotic phenomena in this material, like Majorana zero modes, which are special particles that could be used in quantum computers.

Le T., Pan Z., Xu Z., Liu J., Wang J., Lou Z., Yang X., Wang Z., Yao Y., Wu C., Lin X. Superconducting diode effect and interference patterns in kagome CsV(3)Sb(5). Nature. 2024 May 15. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07431-y.