Superconductors, an opportunity for science and society – Home - Home | CERN

We’re sharing this article early to provide faster access to peer-reviewed, accepted research. It is citable and carries a permanent DOI. This version is subject to further edits and will be replaced automatically by the final Version of Record. All legal disclaimers apply. AbstractKagome superconductors AV3Sb5 (A = Cs, K, Rb) host intertwined orders arising from electronic correlations and lattice geometry, but the nature of the high-temperature electronic state from which these phases emerge remains poorly understood. Although numerous experiments have reported rotational symmetry breaking, it is still intensely debated whether this may be a simple consequence of the symmetry of the underlying 2  × 2 charge density wave (CDW) or an entirely different mechanism. Here we use spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling microscopy to track the evolution of electronic structure in CsV3Sb5 as the CDW is intentionally suppressed through two distinct chemical substitution routes—Sn on the Sb site and Ti on the V site.

Scientists in Japan have discovered that tiny steps just one atom high can act like microscopic railroad tracks, guiding the movement of quantum vortices inside an ultrathin superconductor. Under certain conditions, these vortices moved more than 1,000 times more easily along the steps than across them. Researchers also found that they could adjust this remarkable effect simply by changing the temperature or magnetic field. The discovery was made by researchers at the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), part of Japan's National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). Their findings offer a promising new approach to controlling quantum behavior and could eventually help engineers develop superconducting electronics that use far less energy while processing information more efficiently.

Superconductors are among the most remarkable materials in quantum physics. When certain materials are cooled below a specific transition temperature, their electrical resistance disappears. Electricity can then flow through them without losing energy as heat. This happens because electrons form correlated pairs called Cooper pairs. Instead of moving independently, these pairs act collectively, somewhat like a wave traveling through the material. This unusual property makes superconductors promising for applications including powerful magnets, highly sensitive detectors, and quantum circuits.

Planetary researchers at the University of Sydney have proposed a new way to classify the soils of Mars, along with a new word for them: areth (the name comes from Ares, the Greek name for Mars). Classification of realms across the Martian surface. Image credit: McBratney et al., doi: 10.1016/j.catena.2026.110649.