Working out the Kinks in Superconductors

A study at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source (ALS) has revealed that, contrary to what many scientists have argued, the physics behind the high-temperature superconductivity of copper oxides may be every bit as kinky as that behind their low-temperature metal counterparts.

Working with undulator light from ALS Beamline 10.0, an internationalcollaboration of researchers has identified a "kink" in the energy spectrum of low-energy electrons in three different families of copper oxide high-temperature superconductors. This spectral kink is the signature of an interaction or "coupling" between an electron and a phonon, a vibration in the ions that form the lattice of a superconductor's crystal. Relationships of electron energy and momentum help scientists better understand the physics behind high temperature superconductivity. This image shows raw spectroscopy data, in which photoemission intensity appears as a function of electron binding energy and electron momentum. For the full story go to http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/ALS-kinky-conductors.html