Scientists Create A New Metallic Superconductor Where Electrons Flow Like Water

Scientists have come up with a new splendid study, where they created a new metallic superconductor in which electrons can flow freely, like water in a pipe, that may lead to the new era of electronic devices in near future.

As per the study published in the journal Nature Communications, after interaction with quasiparticles called phonons, the electron in a new type of metallic superconductor behaves differently and flows freely like water in a pipe, meaning electrons will lose their diffusive (particle-like) nature and tend to follow hydrodynamic (fluid-like) behavior in their motions.

In a research led by Fazel Tafti, an Assistant Professor of Physics at Boston College with fellow members from Florida State University and the University of Texas in Dallas, the metallic superconductor behind this phenomenon is a composition of Niobium and Germanium (NbGe2) called ditetrelide. And NeGe2 substance is the first one that leads to this discovery.

A small crystal of the new material on a device Credit: Fazel Tafti, Boston College

“We wanted to test a recent prediction of the ‘electron-phonon fluid’,” says Tafti in a press release.

“Typically, electrons are scattered by phonons which leads to the usual diffusive motion of electrons in metals. A new theory shows that when electrons strongly interact with phonons, they will form a united electron-phonon liquid. This novel liquid will flow inside the metal exactly in the same way as water flows in a pipe,” added Tafti.

Although, we are not clear yet about electron-phonon liquid applications in electronic and other communication devices. But we can say it is a topic of great interest to researchers, and in the future, we may hopefully develop new technologies and devices based on this.

However, Tafti said that they are currently aiming to find other materials that behave similarly to NeGe2 and to search for ways to control the fluid flow of electrons in other materials for future application.