Superconductivity is an intriguing property observed in some materials, which entails the ability to conduct electric current combined with an electrical resistance of zero at low temperatures. Physicists have observed this property in various solid materials with different characteristics and atomic thicknesses.

A team of researchers at Nanjing University in China recently carried out a study aimed at further exploring the behavior of niobium diselenide (NbSe₂), a layered material that has been found to be a superconductor when it is atomically thin. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, unveils resilient superconducting fluctuations in atomically thin NbSe₂, which could play a part in the anomalous metallic state previously observed in this material.

“Our study was inspired by a long-standing puzzle in condensed matter physics, which can be summarized by the question: can metals truly exist in two dimensions as the ground state?” Xiaoxiang Xi, senior author of the paper, told Phys.org. “While we understand the behavior of everyday metals and insulators, ultrathin materials—like sheets just one atom thick—challenge these conventional rules.”