Physicists Discover Novel Superconductor Exhibiting ‘i-Wave’ Properties
Dresden, Germany – July 8, 2025 - An international team of physicists has announced the finding of a unique superconductor in platinum bismuth (PtBi) that defies conventional understanding of superconductivity. Published today in Nature, the research details the material’s unusual “topological nodal i-wave” superconductivity – a state previously theorized but never definitively observed.
This breakthrough, led by researchers at the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat at the technical University of Dresden, could revolutionize the design of future superconducting materials with enhanced properties and open new avenues for lossless energy transmission and advanced quantum technologies. The newly discovered state differs fundamentally from known superconductivity types, potentially enabling more robust and efficient superconducting devices.
The team, comprised of scientists from Germany, Russia, and the Netherlands, identified the novel superconducting state through a combination of experimental measurements and theoretical calculations. Their findings reveal that the superconducting electrons in PtBi pair in a complex, unconventional manner, characterized by an “i-wave” symmetry.This contrasts with the more common “s-wave” symmetry found in many conventional superconductors.
“This is a truly remarkable finding,” said Dr.katja Lesser, Press Spokesperson & Head of Communications for ct.qmat. ”The i-wave superconductivity is a very special and rare phenomenon, and observing it in PtBi provides a crucial platform for understanding and potentially harnessing its unique properties.”
The research, detailed in the article ”Topological nodal i-wave superconductivity in PtBi” (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09712-6), builds upon earlier work and is also available on the arXiv preprint server (https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.01774). The team included S. Changdar, O.Suvorov, A. Kuibarov, S. Thirupathaiah, G. Shipunov, S.Aswartham, S.Wurmehl, I. Kovalchuk, K. Koepernik, C. Timm, B. Büchner, I. Cosma Fulga, S. Borisenko, and J. van den Brink.
Further research will focus on exploring the potential applications of this new superconducting state and investigating similar materials that may exhibit even more exotic properties.
