High temperature superconductivity arising in a metal sheet full of holes

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in a perforated niobium sheet, which cannot be explained by BCS theory but aligns with the hole superconductivity theory and the giant atom concept.

Contribution

It introduces a novel phonon engineering approach to induce high-$T_{c}$ superconductivity in a metal sheet with holes, challenging conventional BCS explanations.

Findings

High-$T_{c}$ superconductivity observed in perforated niobium sheet.

Superconductivity linked to square-lattice oxygen network resembling cuprates.

Results support the hole superconductivity and giant atom theories.

Abstract

By drilling periodic thru-holes in a suspended film, the phonon system can be modified. Being motivated by the BCS theory, the technique, so-called phonon engineering, was applied to a niobium sheet. The newly emergent high-$T_{c}$ superconductivity, however, cannot be accounted for by the BCS theory. Rather, its exposed configuration, namely a square-lattice oxygen network, is reminiscent of the copper-oxygen plane in cuprate high-$T_c$ superconductors. It turns out that its magnetic result is consistent with the principle of giant atom, which was developed by another heroes of superconductivity, Fritz London and John Slater, in the 1930s, several decades earlier than the propagation of BCS theory. The superconducting transition feature is discussed on the basis of a comprehensive theory of the giant atom -- the theory of hole superconductivity.