AN EXOTIC crystal that loses its superconducting properties in the presence of a magnetic field displays an astonishing return to form as the field increases. This appears to be the first clear example of an intriguing quantum effect.
A team at France’s Atomic Energy Commission in Grenoble cooled a superconducting uranium-rhodium-germanium crystal down to 0.04 掳C above absolute zero. Then they ramped up the magnetic field around the crystal. Such fields are known to destroy superconductivity, and, as expected, this happened when the field reached about 2 tesla. But increasing the field strength to 12 tesla restored the crystal’s superconductivity (…
