Schematic Image Representing a Periodic Variation in Density of Cooper Pairs (IMAGE)

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory

Schematic Image Representing a Periodic Variation in Density of Cooper Pairs

Caption

A schematic image representing a periodic variation in the density of Cooper pairs (pairs of blue arrows pointing in opposite directions) within a cuprate superconductor. Densely packed rows of Cooper pairs alternate with regions having lower pair density and no pairs at all. Such a "Cooper pair density wave" was predicted 50 years ago but was just discovered using a unique "scanning Josephson tunneling microscope.

Credit

Brookhaven National Laboratory

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