Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The main objective of our research is to understand what causes superconductivity in some materials to persist up to high temperature, halfway between absolute zero and room temperature. Superconductivity is a remarkable property of materials whereby they can conduct electricity without any loss of energy. This property is used to produce the strong magnetic fields needed in the MRI machines in our hospitals, for example. However, applications of superconductivity are severely limited at present by the fact that the materials still have to be cooled. The significance of understanding the microscopic origin of high-temperature superconductivity is that it would guide scientists in their quest to further enhance the maximum temperature at which a material can be superconducting. Achieving superconductivity at room temperature would undoubtedly spark a major technological revolution. Our approach is to investigate three different types of superconducting materials and use information extracted from a variety of measurements - typically at very low temperatures and in strong magnetic fields - to determine the conditions that favour superconductivity. A central question is the role of magnetism, which is believed to both cause and compete with superconductivity, especially near the quantum critical point where magnetic order emerges. Our comparative study will shed new light on this fundamental interplay. A recent breakthrough in our research has opened up a highly promising avenue to finally solve what is considered "one of the great mysteries in physics".