Possible Meissner effect near room temperature in copper-substituted lead apatite

TL;DR

This study reports potential room-temperature Meissner effect in copper-substituted lead apatite, showing magnetic behaviors indicative of superconductivity, including diamagnetism, hysteresis, and a glassy memory effect, suggesting possible high-temperature superconductivity.

Contribution

First evidence of possible room-temperature Meissner effect in copper-substituted lead apatite, indicating potential high-temperature superconductivity.

Findings

Diamagnetic behavior below room temperature at 25 Oe

Hysteresis loops detected below 250 K

Glassy memory effect observed during cooling

Abstract

With copper-substituted lead apatite below room temperature, we observe diamagnetic dc magnetization under magnetic field of 25 Oe with remarkable bifurcation between zero-field-cooling and field-cooling measurements, and under 200 Oe it changes to be paramagnetism. A glassy memory effect is found during cooling. Typical hysteresis loops for superconductors are detected below 250 K, along with an asymmetry between forward and backward sweep of magnetic field. Our experiment suggests at room temperature the Meissner effect is possibly present in this material.