Story perspectives

Pressure Triples Tantalum Disulfide Superconductivity, Guguchia Wins Award

7/8/2026

Summary

Guguchia Boosts Superconductivity

Zurab Guguchia, lead researcher at the Paul Scherrer Institute, raised tantalum disulfide’s superconducting transition temperature threefold by applying pressure 300 × car-tyre pressure.
High pressure released electrons, causing one layer to become superconducting while the adjacent layer stayed insulating, increasing superconducting carriers sevenfold and enabling 3-D superconductivity.
Muon spin spectroscopy probed the magnetic fields, leading to publication in Nature Communications 2026 and earning Guguchia the 2026 International Career Award on Superconductivity.

Summary

PSI Powers Muons

PSI operates the Swiss Muon Source (SuS), the world’s most powerful muon source, enabling unprecedented magnetic-property sensitivity.
Muons are elementary particles about 200 times heavier than electrons and live only a few microseconds, making them ideal microscopic magnetic probes.
Guguchia noted that muons’ exceptional sensitivity reveals insights unattainable with other techniques, underscoring PSI’s pivotal role in quantum material research.

History

Historical Context

In 1911 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes showed mercury lose resistance at 4.2 K, launching the quest for higher-temperature superconductors. The breakthrough 1986 by IBM Zurich’s Johannes Bednorz and Karl Müller, who recorded a 35 K transition in a cuprate, sparked research into pressure-enhanced materials. Today Zurab Guguchia at the Paul Scherrer Institute uses the Swiss Muon Source to test tantalum disulfide under pressure, continuing the century-long drive toward room-temperature superconductivity.

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Guguchia Boosts Superconductivity

Zurab Guguchia, lead researcher at the Paul Scherrer Institute, raised tantalum disulfide’s superconducting transition temperature threefold by applying pressure 300 × car-tyre pressure.
High pressure released electrons, causing one layer to become superconducting while the adjacent layer stayed insulating, increasing superconducting carriers sevenfold and enabling 3-D superconductivity.
Muon spin spectroscopy probed the magnetic fields, leading to publication in Nature Communications 2026 and earning Guguchia the 2026 International Career Award on Superconductivity.

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