Locationg crucial atoms in superconductors

With an advanced imaging technique and a savvy strategy, researchers at Cornell University's Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics (LAASP) have shown how adding charge-carrying atoms like oxygen to a superconductor can increase the material's ability to conduct electricity overall and -- paradoxically -- to decrease it in localized spots.
The discovery, published in the Aug. 12 issue of Science, could lead to the eventual development of more effective superconductors.