World's Smallest Superconductor Discovered 72
arcticstoat writes "One of the barriers to the development of nanoscale electronics has potentially been eliminated, as scientists have discovered the world's smallest superconductor. Made up of four pairs of molecules, and measuring just 0.87nm, the superconductor could potentially be used as a nanoscale interconnect in electronic devices, but without the heat and power dissipation problems associated with standard metal conductors."
Re:What temperature does this work at though?! (Score:5, Informative)
(To clarify, superconductors do NOT work at room temperature -- the best ones (and the only ones we can really consider in practical applications) require cooling with something like liquid nitrogen. Moreover, this molecule is designed for size, rather than temperature, so I wonder if they had to compromise on how low you have to cool it. The lower temperature superconductors require liquid helium cooling, which goes into ridiculously cold territory.)
The article does not seem to indicate the temperature that it works at.
Re:What temperature does this work at though?! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What temperature does this work at though?! (Score:3, Informative)
SI units are capitalized when the name of the unit is derived from the name of a person.
source [nist.gov]
Re:What temperature does this work at though?! (Score:2, Informative)
To clarify, superconductors do NOT YET work at room temperature
FTFY.
Re:What temperature does this work at though?! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Why does supercooling lead to superconductivity (Score:4, Informative)
Re:What temperature does this work at though?! (Score:3, Informative)
Any physicist will tell you that super-conduction depends on keeping atoms in a specific tight arrangement. At room temperature, there is too much movement of atoms and space between them even in crystalline structures to allow for superconductivity. Superconductivity is a state of matter. There are no super-conducting gasses or liquids and there will very likely never be any super-conducting solids at room temperature -- ever. The hottest temperature known for any material to super-conduct is 133 kelvin = -220.27 degrees Fahrenheit. That's not much warmer than liquid nitrogen at around 77 K.
So, to clarify... superconductors will NEVER work at room temperature... at least according to the laws of physics as we understand them.
FTFY... anonymous coward with pie in the sky dreams and no understanding of the topic