Picosecond pulses push superconductors beyond their critical-current limit

Superconductors can carry electrical current without resistance, but only up to a maximum value known as the critical current. The critical current is a figure of merit for applications, and materials science has long been focused on increasing this limit. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) have now shown that, in type-II superconductors, this conventional limit can be exceeded when the current is applied for only a few picoseconds.