High temperature superconductivity lacks a complete theoretical mechanism

Liu WK, Li KC, Zhang Y, Wong CH. Advances in Iron-Based Superconductors and Transformational Insights into Electron-Differential Phonon Coupling.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19061105

The study highlights that despite decades of research into iron-based superconductors, the underlying pairing mechanism remains an unresolved enigma.

Prasankumar RP, Julian M, Hutcheon M, Heil C, Deng L, Basov D, Chu CW, Comin R, Kim P, Meredig B, Pickard C, E Pickett W, Strobel T, Wolf S, Zurek E, Myhrvold N. The path to room-temperature superconductivity: A programmatic approach.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2520324123

The article outlines major prediction and engineering challenges, emphasizing that fully uncovering the underlying keys to high-temperature superconductivity remains an active quest.

Luo X, Li Y, Chen H, Chen Y, Shi J, Miao T, Liang B, Zhu W, Cai N, Ren X, Shu Y, Yin C, Zhang J, Lin C, Zhang S, Wang Z, Zhang F, Yang F, Peng Q, Xu Z, Liu G, Li X, Mao H, Xiang T, Zhao L, Zhou XJ. Coexistence of high temperature superconductivity and antiferromagnetic order in a cuprate with multiple hole Fermi pockets.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75301-4

The research indicates that the fundamental origin of electron pairing and the intricate relationship between high-temperature superconductivity and antiferromagnetic order remain open questions.