Scientists just made a superconductor stronger using “empty space”

Researchers have demonstrated that quantum fluctuations in supposedly empty space can strengthen superconductivity, raising the transition temperature of an ultrathin material by as much as 5.4%.

The short version

• The discovery opens the possibility of using specially engineered vacuum environments to control quantum materials without direct contact or external driving.
• Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that quantum fluctuations in a vacuum can strengthen superconductivity, opening a new path for controlling unusual states of matter.
• The study, published in Nature , was led by Profs.

What happened

Changgan Zeng and Guanghui Cheng of the University of Science and Technology of China of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The collaboration also included Prof.

Why it matters

Qingdong Jiang of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Prof.

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