UBC physicists develop 'impossible' technique to study and
develop superconductors A team of University of British Columbia
researchers has developed a technique that controls the number
of electrons on the surface of high-temperature superconductors,
a procedure considered impossible for the past two decades. Led
by Physics Assoc. Prof. Andrea Damascelli, the team deposited
potassium atoms onto the surface of a piece of superconducting
copper oxide. The approach allows the scientists to continuously
manipulate the number of electrons on ultra-thin layers of
material. The details are published this week in the prestigious
journal Nature Physics. Superconductivity – the phenomenon of
conducting electricity with no resistance – occurs in some
materials at very low temperatures. High-temperature
superconductors are a class of materials capable of conducting
electricity with little or no resistance in temperatures as high
as -140 degrees Celsius. "The development of future electronics,
such as quantum computer ch