‘Designer’ superconducting diamond offers roadmap to multifunction quantum chips

Photo of researcher, Jyotirmay Dwivedi, calibrating equipment for an experiment in the lab

Discovering the physical principles of superconductivity in diamond opens the door for new quantum technologies, scientists report

Diamond is extremely valuable to science and technology not for its sparkle but for its extreme hardness, ability to transfer heat, transparency to a large fraction of the light spectrum and a host of other exceptional properties. Two decades ago, scientists discovered another advantage: under the right conditions, diamond can become a superconductor — allowing electricity to flow through it with zero resistance.

Thawing ground, future questions: Decoding Arctic climate in a Pennsylvania lab

MD Mashfiqur Rahman, doctoral candidate in engineering science and mechanics, preparing artificial permafrost in a lab in the Millennium Science Complex

By Jamie Oberdick

In a Penn State lab, a small cylinder of soil sits wired with sensors, slowly cooling as it mimics conditions thousands of miles away.

At first, it looks unremarkable, like dirt from an average backyard mixed with water. But as the temperature drops, the sample begins to freeze, and its internal structure shifts in ways that are invisible to the eye. Each measurement adds another piece to a complex puzzle, one that connects microscopic structures in a lab to vast landscapes in the Arctic and to global systems that affect people everywhere.