Insulator-superconductor transition of copper-oxide compound studied in fine detail

Using a highly controlled deposition technique, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have synthesized ultrathin films containing multiple samples of a copper-oxide compound to study the compound's electronic behavior at near absolute zero, or minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit. This technique, as described in a paper published in this week's Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is helping scientists understand how ...