Red Wine, Tartaric Acid, and the Secret of Superconductivity

[xchrom]

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27664/?p1=blogs



Last year, a group of Japanese physicists grabbed headlines around the world by announcing that they could induce superconductivity in a sample of iron telluride by soaking it in red wine. They found that other alcoholic drinks also worked--white wine, beer, sake and so on--but red wine was by far the best.

The question, of course, is why. What is it about red wine that does the trick?

Today, these guys provide an answer, at least in part. Keita Deguchi at the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan, and a few buddies, say the mystery ingredient is tartaric acid and have the experimental data to show that it plays an important role in the process.

First, some background. Iron-based superconductors were discovered in 2008 and have since become the focus of intense interest. Deguchi and co study iron telluride which does not superconduct unless some of the telluride atoms are replaced with sulphur, forming FeTeS.

[longship]

1. Looks like a great candidate for an Ig Nobel

Ig Nobel Prize

I love the iggies. Lots of fun.