Nanoscale imaging reveals unexpected behaviors in high-temperature superconductors

Using a customized microscope, Princeton scientists have mapped the strength of current-carrying electron pairs as they form in a ceramic superconductor. From the top left, the images show the same 30-nanometer square region of the ceramic at successively cooler temperatures. Red areas indicate the presence of superconducting pairs. Even at 10 degrees Celsius above Tc, the temperature at which the entire sample exhibits superconductivity, the electron pairs still exist in localized regions (top left image).