Superconductivity boosted in nanostructures
Superconductivity boosted
An international research team led by Prof. Klaus Kern (Laboratory of Nanoscale Science, EPFL) has demonstrated that quantum size effects can boost the superconductivity of nanostructured materials.
In tin (Sn: Stannum) nanoparticules of well defined size, it was observed by scanning tunneling microscopy that the quantum effects result in giant enhancements (up to 60%) of the superconducting energy gap. The research - to read about in "Nature Materials" - paves new ways towards the superconductivity of nanostructured materials.