Unraveling the complex, intertwined electron phases in a superconductor

A team led by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cornell University has characterized a key arrangement of electrons in a high-temperature superconductor, a material that can conduct electricity with almost no energy loss without being ultra-chilled. The material is a member of a family of copper-oxygen-based superconducting compounds-the cuprates-that are prime candidates for numerous potential high-impact applications, including extremely effici