The new breed of high temperature superconductors appears to work by giving an electric current free passage via atoms with their electron rings depopulated, so that the current passes from atom to atom via these holes, but now researchers at the University of Tokyo have found that by adding the metallic rare earth element Cerium to one of the Copper Oxide ceramics in which superconductivity at high temperatures has been widely reported, they end up with a ceramic in which the atoms have a superfluity of electrons – and that it still superconducts when chilled, indicating that in this ceramic at least, superconductivity is via the surplus electrons and not via holes.
Content from our partners
