Hopping Electrons Toggle High-Temperature Superconductivity (IMAGE) DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Caption Computer simulations at SLAC and Stanford suggest a way to turn superconductivity on and off in copper-based materials called cuprates: Tweak the chemistry of the materials so electrons hop from atom to atom in a particular pattern -- as if hopping to the atom diagonally across the street rather than to the one next door. This grid of simulated atoms illustrates the idea. Copper atoms are in orange, oxygen atoms are in red and electrons are in blue. Credit Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.