Brookhaven scientist wins international prize

A physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory has won an international award for his work studying superconductive compounds that scientists believe are crucial to solving the world's energy challenges.

Ivan Bozovic is among three scientists to share this year's 2012 Bernd T. Matthias Prize for Superconducting Materials. The materials, unlike copper, conduct electricity without resistance. If used to make a wire, superconductors could send electricity around the globe without losing a single watt. If curved into a loop, they can hold a charge forever.

The problem is superconductors only work at extremely low temperatures -- more than several hundred degrees below zero -- rendering them impractical for everyday use. So Bozovic is trying to create one that could work at a practicable temperature.

"It is the Holy Grail in all of physics," Bozovic said.

The implications of functional superconductors would be revolutionary for businesses and the economy, scientists say. They could stabilize energy grids and eliminate blackouts by shipping power back and forth across the country as demand rises and falls. They could store massive amounts of electricity, making wind and solar power more efficient. And, scientists say, superconductors could be paired with Herculean-strength magnets to power lightning-fast trains that levitate a millimeter above their rails.

Bozovic, who has worked at Brookhaven since 2003, creates his compounds by spreading one-atom-thick layers of elements atop one another in combinations that would never be found in nature. He then studies their properties and revises the combinations in pursuit of a superconductor that will work at a high temperature.

Bozovic will share the award with James N. Eckstein of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Dirk Johrendt of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat München in Germany. Laureates are selected by an international jury and receive $5,000.

"More frequently, awards are given for a single important discovery," Bozovic said. "My research on superconducting materials is characterized by several decades of patience and methodical work to slowly but steadily improve techniques and sample quality. It's not very glamorous, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I received this prestigious honor."