Superconductivity Limitations
Electricity has been one of the most transformative technologies in history, allowing for the transmission of a very useful form of energy over long distances. But every “normal” electric system faces electric resistance, which results in the generation of heat when an electric current is applied.
An alternative exists: the so-called superconductive materials. Superconductive materials have an electric resistance of zero, which allows for extremely powerful currents to be used without generating heat.
Without superconductivity, plenty of modern technology would not be possible, including particle accelerators (for example, the CERN), MRI, and maglev trains.
Superconductivity will be a crucial component of the most promising megaprojects and technological innovation, like ITER and nuclear fusion, mass drivers, quantum computers, etc.
Zero-loss electric power lines could also be crucial in developing ultra-long grid connections helping buffer the production of renewables over weather conditions and time zones, solving some of the limitations of solar and wind power.
Source: XOT Metals
However, superconductivity has been mastered so far only for materials displaying it at ultra-low temperatures, barely a few degrees above absolute zero. Or extremely high pressure.
This makes it not only too complex for any but the most demanding applications (maglev, MRI, etc.) but also very costly, making it uneconomical for many applications that could benefit from superconductive material or any large-scale use.
Many Paths To Superconductivity
It now seems that the material produced in high pressure might be able to retain some of its superconductivity at lower pressure, through an experimental method called pressure-quench protocol (PQP).
Recently, the twisted bilayer of WSe₂ (tungsten selenium) appeared to be a good material candidate for higher-temperature superconductors as well.
So after years of slow progress, it seems that physicists are starting to unlock entirely new ways of creating superconducting materials. And a new one is now added to the list, with a new family of superconductors containing nickel.
Chinese researchers at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen and Tsinghua University have discovered that bilayer nickelate superconductors conduct electricity without resistance, well above absolute zero and at ambient pressure.1
They published their results in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, under the title “Ambient-pressure superconductivity onset above 40 K in (La,Pr)3Ni2O7 films”.
Not-Too-Cold Superconductors
High-temperature superconductivity might one day become an option, notably with the puzzling case of LK-99 (a form of copper-substituted lead apatite – CSLA), a new type of ambient-pressure, room-temperature superconductor.
The claim was immediately contested and criticized as a hoax or a measurement error, but then other researchers discovered there might be something happening after all.
But this is not the only class of superconductors that could work at warmer temperatures.
It has been recently discovered that two groups of ceramics (copper-based cuprates and iron-based pnictides) worked as unconventional superconductors that operate at room pressure and at temperatures as high as 150°K (–123°C / -189°F).
Source: Materials Today
Now, it appears that nickelates are joining these ceramics to create a material that works as superconductors at higher temperatures.
While not so warm, it is much easier to reach a temperature than with current superconductors. For example, the superconducting magnets of ITER will need to be cooled close to absolute zero with liquid helium, a very energy-intensive and expensive procedure.
Overall, this indicates that superconductors are likely to become much more common in the medium term, as many more forms of them are being discovered and experimented with.
Superconducting Nickelates
Nickelate was discovered to have potential superconductivity properties in 2019 by Danfeng Li, a physicist at the City University of Hong Kong, and his colleague. In 2023, another team demonstrated nickelates’ superconductivity at higher temperatures, but under high pressure.
Source: Nature
But it was in December 2024 that nickelates were detected for the first time to lose resistance at a critical temperature and expelled magnetic fields, both strong indications of superconductivity.
To achieve this result, single-crystal films of La2.85Pr0.15Ni2O7 (lanthanum-praseodymium-nickel) were grown using a technique called gigantic-oxidative atomic-layer-by-layer epitaxy (GOALL-Epitaxy). This technique was developed by the same team of researchers and provides several orders of magnitude stronger oxidation and precision in producing layers of material at the atomic level.
Source: Research Gate
Advanced analytical methods were used to study the nickel-based compound, including Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images and X-ray reciprocal space mappings (RSMs).
They revealed the appearance of a tetragonal phase in the nickel oxide layer, which might be responsible for the free flow of electrons in the right conditions.
Improving Superconducting Materials
The method used as a preliminary test to improve the nickelate properties can be further improved. This should lead to multiple tests to further raise the temperature of these superconductors.
“There’s a huge hope that we could eventually raise the critical temperature and make such materials more useful for applications.”
Danfeng Li – Physicist at the City University of Hong Kong.
The analysis indicates that the process that gives nickelates superconductivity is similar to the one affecting the cuprates (made from copper).
”Increasing this is a priority. The team is trying various tricks to tweak how the material is grown and its precise composition.”
Zhuoyu Chen – Physicist at SUSTech
Experiments Before Theory
It should be remarked that the recent results regarding higher-temperature superconductors, or even potential room-temperature superconductors, are running ahead of theoretical physics in the field.
So, why it works is still quite a mystery. There is not yet a complete explanation of why these materials are superconductors, and even less of a predictive method to forecast what material might be displaying these features.
Until now, the need for high-pressure or hyper-cold conditions had severely impaired the study of these materials, as it was hard to test anything when superconductivity only happens in a diamond anvil or liquid helium.
Easier to maintain conditions should give a lot more leeway for the scientists to study these materials and modify them.
So this leaves plenty of room for improvement, and a better understanding of these materials, including with the help of AI, should help go further.
It should also get more researchers working in the field and more companies pouring R&D budgets on these projects, speeding up the pace of progress.
Future Applications
High-temperature superconductors would be an immediate wonder-material if understood well enough for manufacturing them at scale.
The first immediate effect would be to decrease the cost of equipment already leveraging superconductivity, like MRI, maglev trains, advanced turbines and generators, particle accelerators, experimental fusion reactors, etc.
It would also make possible technology that until now could never either be done at all or was prohibitively expensive due to the technical constraints of low-temperature superconductors.
This includes hyperloop trains, mass drivers to reach orbit, commercial nuclear fusion, intercontinental grid connections, etc. Each of these is a technology that would forever alter the path of human civilization.
Leaders in Superconductivity Solutions
American Superconductor Corporation
American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC -8.79%)
AMSC is a company providing energy solutions for the power grid, ships, and wind energy. In general, the more power-hungry or massive a system is, the more it requires superconducting technology to avoid overheating.
Despite its name, ASMC provides not only superconductor systems but also, for example, gear drivetrains for wind turbines.
The company is riding multiple growth drivers, from the trend of electrification, and digitalization (including AI datacenters), but also the reshoring of US manufacturing capacities and the need for Navies of the Anglosphere to modernize in response to growing geopolitical risks.
Source: American Superconductor Corporation
In the power supply segment, AMSC has seen a steady rise in orders. This was driven by semiconductor fabs looking to be protected from power grid fluctuations, helping the grid deal with the intermittent nature of renewables, and power supply & controls at industrial sites.
Source: American Superconductor Corporation
In the wind turbine segment, AMSC is mostly active with Electrical Control System (ECS). Historically, ESC was a strong segment for the company with the 2MW wind turbines, but it has progressively declined. AMSC aims for a rebound thanks to the new 3MW turbine design, with a special focus on the Indian market.
Source: American Superconductor Corporation
For military ships, ASMC provides the “AMSC’s High Temperature Superconductor Magnetic Mine Countermeasure,” a system to alter the magnetic signature of the ships to protect them from sea mines. This is sold to the US, Canadian, and UK navies, with $75M worth of orders so far.
Overall, ASMC is doing best with leveraging superconductor technology in niche applications viable today, while likely being ready to deploy further advances in the future. It should also be noted by investors that the stock has experienced extreme volatility in the past, and to calculate the risks accordingly.
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Study Reference:
1.Zhou, G., Lv, W., Wang, H. et al.(2025) Ambient-pressure superconductivity onset above 40 K in (La,Pr)3Ni2O7 Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08755-z