37 ms·
Theoretically, I guess it could - iron selenide superconducts when its electrons are all forced the outer ring, and physically stretching the material can cause
by fwlr 3y ago
Theoretically, I guess it could - iron selenide superconducts when its electrons are all forced the outer ring, and physically stretching the material can cause force electrons to the outer ring. But the precision required to apply enough tension to pull the electrons of every single atom into that state is absurd, and if some aren’t in that state then it won’t superconduct. Not to mention you also have to guarantee somehow that the material won’t do all the other things it normally does when physically stretched, like deform or break.
- polishdude20 3y agoHow about a feedback mechanism based on the current flowing itself? Have some piezo thing stretch the material with feedback from a current sensor going though that material to have it always go for the highest current flow.
- TeMPOraL 3y agoGP's remark that "the precision required to apply enough tension to pull the electrons of every single atom into that state is absurd" made me want to ask the same thing, so seconding this question. I assume feedback control is an obvious enough approach that the researchers already checked and rejected it - but I'm curious as to why specifically it would not work. In my layman non-physicist non-material-scientist imagination, I'm thinking of an aggregation of such self-regulating piezo "cells", or even continuous surface tuned to locally stretch/contract "just right" with the current flowing over it (is such a feat even possible)?
- polishdude20 3y agoYeah it may be even more precision than what a feedback mechanism can do?
- idiotsecant 3y agoI suppose there is a limit to how linear piezo response can be. I am not sure the order of magnitude of forces involved here, but they must be very,very,very,very small.
- fwlr 3y agoSo far as I know there is nothing in physics that would prevent such a thing - I think the issue is whatever tensioning device you use (unsure if piezo is the way to go or something else), each unit would be responsible for a relatively small number of atoms (maybe ~10, maybe ~10^6, hard to even guess) which means these devices are probably going to require atomically-precise manufacturing. And any practical application of superconductor material is going to have 10^23 atoms or more. So now you need 10^17 atomically-precise tensioning devices… it’s much easier to let e.g. magnetic fields do this work. I think the “tension axis” is more likely to be fruitful in a different way, where we find some structure e.g. a crystalline formation that happens to hold atoms apart with just the right amount of tension. But this is all very speculative - the “tension axis” is just a random thought I had while reading the article!
- bartchamdo 3y agoCrazy thought, why not use something like super cooling or pressure get things aligned and then just prevent them from returning back? In other words prevent it from “de-aligning” or returning to the unaligned state? It seems this would be easier.
- derefr 3y ago> But the precision required to apply enough tension to pull the electrons of every single atom into that state is absurd Easier with individiually-tensioned monofilaments? Graphene monofilaments are interesting because they're very strong; but other materials can be monofilaments, too; just usually they're useless in that form.