Although physicists warn that several technical hurdles remain, companies are preparing to take advantage of these breakthroughs in the basic science. Paul Chu of the University of Houston said that more than 15 companies, large and small, had contacted him about investing in his work after he reported that his team, in collaboration with a group from the University of Alabama, had achieved superconductivity at 98 degrees K.
Companies with expertise in superconductivity are rapidly producing their own applications of the new findings. Researchers at IBM, whose Zurich Research Laboratory made the initial discovery that sparked the excitement, reported at last month's meeting here of the American Physical Society that they had made thin films of the new superconducting materials. Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. announced its development of a thin film that retains superconductivity at 80 degrees K. Stanford University researchers have also produced a thin film of superconducting oxide ...
