Researchers turned empty space into a tool for superconductivity

Scientists from USTC, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and MIT placed NbSe2 superconductor in a terahertz dark cavity and showed for the first time that enhanced vacuum fluctuations raise the critical temperature of superconductivity. Results published in Nature.

• Critical temperature of six-layer NbSe2 rose to 5.4%
• Enhancement also recorded for critical current and magnetic field
• Effect confirmed by Ginzburg-Landau theoretical model
• Work published in Nature on August 19, 2026