The story of superconductivity has always been marked by unexpected turns, bold experiments, and decades of persistence. Cuprates set the ceiling for high-Tc systems; iron-based compounds expanded the diversity of mechanisms; and now nickelates have entered the arena with a breakthrough that reaches toward the same temperature ranges that made cuprates so revolutionary.

Superconductivity has long been one of the most compelling frontiers in modern physics because it promises a world where electricity flows without any resistance, power transmission wastes zero energy, and technologies such as magnetic levitation, ultrafast electronics, and next-generation quantum devices become everyday realities. But the world of superconductors has always been divided between what is theoretically possible and what is practically achievable. In December 2025, a new breakthrough expanded that boundary yet again, placing nickelates compounds built around the element nickel squarely at the center of global scientific attention. A newly reported result shows that bilayer nickelate crystals can achieve bulk superconductivity up to around 96 Kelvin under high pressure, adding a new contender to a field historically dominated by copper-based and iron-based materials. This discovery raises an important question that scientists and technologists alike are beginning to ask: could nickelates be the future of superconductors?

To appreciate why this finding is significant, one needs to understand where superconductivity research has come from. The earliest superconductors, discovered in 1911, required cooling to extremely low temperatures near absolute zero. They were called low-temperature superconductors and were limited to laboratory or specialized industrial settings. Everything changed in the late 1980s when researchers found that certain copper-oxide compounds, now known as cuprates, could superconduct at much higher temperatures above the temperature of liquid nitrogen (77 K). This discovery triggered a global scientific revolution. Cuprates remain the highest-temperature superconductors known at ambient pressure, with some reaching transition temperatures above 130 K. Their layered crystal structures, containing copper and oxygen planes, enable strong electron interactions that give rise to what is called “unconventional superconductivity”—a phenomenon not explained by traditional theories. For decades, cuprates have been the unmatched champions of high-temperature superconductivity, although they remain notoriously difficult to manufacture, interpret, and apply.

In 2008, scientists discovered a new family: the iron-based superconductors. These compounds incorporate iron and pnictogens or chalcogens and exhibit superconductivity through distinct mechanisms involving magnetism and multi-orbital interactions. While their transition temperatures do not surpass cuprates, they offered something crucial: easier synthesis, greater tunability, and a deeper theoretical playground for understanding unconventional superconductivity. Their discovery expanded the field but did not dethrone cuprates. Still, they proved that high-temperature superconductivity did not have to be limited to copper chemistry alone. This realization set the stage for a new era of exploration, motivating researchers to investigate materials previously dismissed as unlikely superconductors including nickel compounds.

Nickelates began attracting attention partly because nickel sits next to copper in the periodic table. For years, theorists speculated that nickel-based analogues of cuprates might replicate their superconducting behavior. But experiments repeatedly failed to show robust superconductivity in nickel compounds. That changed with the discovery of superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates in 2019, a result that sparked cautious excitement but faced challenges: low critical temperatures, thin-film constraints, the need for complex synthesis, and inconsistent reproducibility. Nickelates were intriguing, but far from convincing.

The new 2025 breakthrough changed that narrative dramatically. Researchers managed to grow high-quality bilayer nickelate single crystals using a flux-growth technique—an important step because clean, bulk crystals are essential for unambiguous measurements. The superconductivity itself did not come from the synthesis but from the conditions applied afterward: the crystals exhibited zero electrical resistance and a clear diamagnetic signal, both hallmarks of superconductivity, when subjected to very high pressures of around 20–21 GPa. The onset of superconductivity appeared around 92 K, with the system reaching true zero resistance near 73 K. The observation of strong diamagnetism meaning the crystal expelled magnetic fields confirmed that the superconductivity was genuine, not an artifact or surface effect. This was the first time such clear, bulk superconductivity at nearly 100 K had ever been observed in a nickel-based material. Though the pressure requirement is still a major hurdle, the fundamental achievement is undeniable: nickelates have crossed into the temperature regime once reserved only for cuprates.

What makes this development exciting is not just the number 96 K is impressive but the fact that nickelates may represent an entirely new flavor of high-temperature superconductivity. While cuprates rely on copper-oxygen planes and strong electronic correlations, and iron-based superconductors benefit from intricate magnetic interactions, nickelates seem to straddle both worlds. Their electronic structures resemble cuprates, but their orbital complexities echo the iron-based family. This hybrid character raises the possibility that nickelates may unlock a new mechanism—or at least a modified version of existing mechanisms—that helps scientists resolve long-standing questions about how high-temperature superconductivity truly works. If that happens, the impact will go far beyond the chemistry of one material; it may reshape the entire theoretical landscape.

Of course, the excitement must be balanced with realism. The nickelates in the recent study only superconduct under extreme pressures that are not practical for real-world applications. High-pressure phases often exhibit behaviors that disappear completely at ambient conditions. Yet, history offers reasons for optimism. Many iron-based superconductors were first discovered under pressure before chemical substitutions made their superconducting phases stable without external force. Researchers hope that a similar pathway might exist for nickelates: if chemical “pressure” or structural tuning can mimic the effects of physical pressure, ambient-pressure superconductivity might eventually be possible. The flux-grown crystals from the new study already demonstrate one major advantage they can be made at ambient pressure, stable, clean, and reproducible. That removes one of the biggest obstacles in nickelate research and will allow more laboratories worldwide, including in India, to investigate them without requiring specialized high-pressure growth chambers.

The story of superconductivity has always been marked by unexpected turns, bold experiments, and decades of persistence. Cuprates set the ceiling for high-Tc systems; iron-based compounds expanded the diversity of mechanisms; and now nickelates have entered the arena with a breakthrough that reaches toward the same temperature ranges that made cuprates so revolutionary. Whether nickelates will ultimately become a practical alternative remains to be seen, but this discovery has clearly placed them on the scientific map as a credible third class of high-temperature superconductors. As research accelerates, the dream of superconductors that work at room temperature or at least in conditions suitable for real-world technologies—feels one step closer.The study was conducted by a collaborative team led by Prof. Ni Ni at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in partnership with researchers from the High Pressure Collaborative Access Team (HPCAT) at Argonne National Laboratory. Using high-quality flux-grown bilayer nickelate single crystals and high-pressure techniques, the team demonstrated bulk superconductivity with a transition temperature reaching 96 K. While nickelates are chemically adjacent to copper on the periodic table and exhibit properties that echo the copper-based cuprates, the iron-based superconductors still hold significance in understanding diverse mechanisms of high-temperature superconductivity. The results suggest that although nickelates may not yet serve as practical superconductors for real-world applications, their discovery marks a crucial step toward bridging the gap between theoretical possibilities and experimental realities, reinforcing the idea that elements near copper in the periodic table remain highly promising candidates in the quest for next-generation superconducting materials.