Smart Computer Uncovers Two Superconductors, Could Find Thousands More

Physicists just used machine learning to discover two new superconductors. This development now opens up potential energy-saving possibilities down the road.

Superconductors carry electric current with zero resistance. These materials power quantum computers, medical neuroimaging, fusion reactors, among other important technologies.

Superconductors only get special quantum properties at extremely cold temperatures near absolute zero. Researchers typically need very expensive cooling equipment to use them. Plus, the materials are incredibly difficult to find. You can combine elements in endless ways, but very few actually turn out to be superconductors.

Scientists all over the world are racing to find one that can be scaled up and work at a regular room temperature.

Speeding Up the Search for Superconductors

An international team of researchers, called the SuperC consortium, used machine learning to filter through a practically infinite number of material combinations. Doing this helps them identify good candidates much faster.

By combining machine learning with quantum geometry, the team found two new superconductors, named YRu3B2 and LuRu3B2. Their superconductivity happens when electrons form flat bands in a shape called a kagome lattice.

Professor Päivi Törmä from Aalto University leads the SuperC consortium. She and a team of physicists formed this global collaboration in 2023 to use quantum physics in the fight against climate change. Their specific goal is to find a room-temperature superconductor by the year 2033.

“Superconductive materials that can operate at room temperature would forever change the way we consume energy,” explained Törmä.

She notes exactly how this could change everyday technology. “If such a material could replace regular conductors in applications like computers and data centers, global energy consumption could be slashed and the heat footprint of the ICT sector vastly reduced.”