Study finds cuprate superconductors are structurally patchworked

Researchers at the University of Warwick and ESRF used scanning 3D X-ray diffraction to map a cuprate superconductor crystal and found it is a patchwork of two subtly different atomic arrangements with domain walls hundreds of times wider than expected. The findings, published in Physical Review Letters, challenge 40 years of assumptions about these materials.

• The crystal is a patchwork of two subtly different atomic arrangements
• Domain walls between regions are hundreds of times wider than expected
• The 3D diffraction technique followed a €150 million ESRF upgrade
• The wide boundaries likely work against superconductivity