Create a superinsulating material

2008/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Fisika

An international group of physicists has created a material of infinite resistance to the movement of the electric charge. It is a thin film of titanium nitride that, placed near the temperature of absolute zero and within a magnetic field, becomes a superinsulator.

Curiously, the titanium nitride is, in fact, a superconductor against the superinsulator. This phenomenon is due to a certain electronic structure: several electrons form groups of two in a structure called Cooper couples. Cooper couples move from the material without resistance, making it a superconductor.

But when the titanium nitride takes the form of a thin film, the situation changes: Cooper couples are limited in small spaces. Electrons cannot pass from one area to another and the material becomes a perfect insulator. The researchers have highlighted that the perfect insulator is only achieved when what is limited in zones is superoale. It seems paradoxical that to make a superinsulator it is necessary to start from a superconductor material.