Superconductivity. The race to beat the cuprates.

Abstract

Layered copper oxide (cuprate) materials have held the record for high-temperature superconductivity for more than a decade. But as Dagotto explains in his Perspective, fullerenes may soon rival the cuprates. He highlights two reports by SchA¶net al., who have used a recently developed technique to induce superconductivity both in ladder cuprates and in a doped Cmaterial. The latter shows superconductivity at temperatures of up to 117 kelvin, a record for noncuprates and close to the cuprate record of 133 kelvin. Modifications to the material may help raise the critical temperature further, possibly beyond 133 kelvin.