Superconductivity is the ability of some materials to conduct a direct electrical current (DC) with almost no resistance. This property is highly sought after and favorable for various technological applications, as it could boost the performance of different electronic and energy devices.
In recent years, condensed-matter physicists and material scientists have been trying to identify strategies to enhance the superconductivity of specific materials. This includes the material K3C60, an organic superconductor that has been found to enter a phase characterized by zero resistance when mid-infrared optical pulses are applied to it.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Università degli Studi di Parma and University of Oxford have now identified a strategy to enhance the light-induced superconductivity of K3C60. This strategy, outlined in Nature Physics, has so far yielded very promising results, increasing the photo-susceptibility of this superconducting material by two orders of magnitude.
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