Intensifying the Search for Novel Superconductors

MPI CPfS researchers are part of the QG3D research project on quantum geometry and next-generation superconductors

February 10, 2025

Researchers from our institute are now part of the international QG3D collaboration which stands for “Quantum Geometry for 3D Materials”. This initiative is targeted to advance the development of next-generation superconducting materials. Artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum geometry concepts will be used to predict structures and compositions of materials that could achieve revolutionary levels of superconductivity. The predicted materials then have to be synthesized properly in the chemistry lab and tested for various physical properties and at extreme conditions.

Research activities in Claudia Felser’s department at MPI CPfS on novel superconductors developed with the concept of topological quantum chemistry now team up with the researchers in the wide international QG3D initiative. The project is funded by the Kavli Foundation, the Klaus Tschira Foundation, and philanthropist Kevin Wells and all together comprises a multi-million-dollar investment in the next years.

The electric resistivity of a small sample is measured under high pressure. — The electric resistivity of a sample is measured under high pressure. The image shows four electrical contact electrodes which are pressed onto a tiny sample (brown object in the middle) positioned between the flat faces (circular area) of two diamonds. With such measurements at high pressure and low temperature the fundamental changes of matter at such extreme conditions can be explored. Some materials which are insulating at normal pressure can become superconducting at such exotic conditions.

© MPI CPfS

The electric resistivity of a sample is measured under high pressure. The image shows four electrical contact electrodes which are pressed onto a tiny sample (brown object in the middle) positioned between the flat faces (circular area) of two diamonds. With such measurements at high pressure and low temperature the fundamental changes of matter at such extreme conditions can be explored. Some materials which are insulating at normal pressure can become superconducting at such exotic conditions.

© MPI CPfS

The collaboration is led by Päivi Törmä of Aalto University in Finland. “The project may lead to new superconductors that function at unprecedentedly high temperatures and deepen our understanding of the role of quantum geometry,” said Törmä regarding the impact of the work.

With the funding, the researchers aim to discover and synthesize new three-dimensional (3D) materials with quantum geometry properties. To observe the predicted effects at temperatures up to room temperature, high electron densities are needed for which 3D structures are beneficial.

To accelerate the effort, the team will use AI and machine learning (ML) methods to help refine the choice of materials to synthesize. Theoretical results and characterization of synthesized materials will then again inform the machine learning algorithms, and iteration will lead to identifying materials with desired quantum geometry properties.

The collaborative research team includes:

Milan Allan and Dmitri Efetov at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Claudia Felser, Walter Schnelle and Jianfeng Ge at Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden
Harold Hwang at Stanford University
Miguel Marques at Ruhr-University Bochum
Emilia Morosan at Rice University
Priscila Rosa at Los Alamos National Lab
Päivi Törmä at Aalto University

More information on the QG3D project and the funders can be found at the Klaus Tschira Foundation website.

Intensifying the Search for Novel Superconductors

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