Superconductors come broadly in two types: conventional, in which the activity can be explained by the mainstream theory of superconductivity, and unconventiona

Superconductors come broadly in two types: conventional, in which the activity can be explained by the mainstream theory of superconductivity, and unconventional, where it can’t. The latest studies suggest that graphene’s superconducting behaviour is unconventional — and has parallels with activity seen in other unconventional superconductors called cuprates. These complex copper oxides have been known to conduct electricity at up to 133 degrees above absolute zero. And although physicists have focused on cuprates for three decades in their search for room-temperature superconductors, the underlying mechanism has baffled them. Magic angle graphene (sheets twisted 1.1 degree relative to each other) isn't a temperature breakthrough because the sample must be cooled to 1.7 K. Rather, it appears to be a novel system for studying unconventional superconductors. The best-studied example to date is based on cuprates. Both cuprates and magic angle graphene are characterized by insulting state very close to a superconductivity state. The hope seems to be that magic angle graphene will prove to be a better system for understanding unconventional superconductivity. That could lead to high temperature superconductors. In contrast to cuprates, the stacked graphene system is relatively simple and the material is well-understood. “The stunning implication is that cuprate superconductivity was something simple all along. It was just hard to calculate properly,” says Laughlin.