Plenary Presentation Details
Paul C. W. Chu
Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston
PRESENTATION DAY AND TIME
Monday, September 7, 2026 | 8:05 a.m.
PRESENTATION TITLE
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of HTS: Past, Present, and Future
ABSTRACT
The 1987 discovery1 of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) at 93 K in YBCO, above the liquid-nitrogen temperature and against all theoretical predictions and prevailing beliefs of the time, was hailed as a major advancement in modern physics, as noted in a 1987 US government report. The memorable “Woodstock of Physics”, attended by more than a thousand physicists and featuring dozens of presentations on this and other recent HTS studies2, was subsequently held in the evening of March 18 until the next morning during the 1987 APS March Meeting at the New York Hilton. With its potential for further scientific advancement and its technological implications, the discovery of HTS thus generated immense excitement worldwide in the scientific community and beyond, ushering in an unprecedented “gold rush” that has lasted until today. As an old soldier in the trenches, in this presentation I will recall several of the interesting events that heralded the exciting era of HTS, summarize the current status of HTS, and briefly examine its future. I will also show how to advance HTS by enhancing its record ambient Tc3 to 151 K by following the simple route of pressure-quench, bypassing the complexities of chemistry.
1. M. K. Wu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 908 (1987).
2. P. H. Hor et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1891 (1987).
3. L. Z. Deng et al., PNAS 123, e2536178123 (2026).
Acknowledgments: Research is supported in part by Intellectual Ventures Management, US AFOSR, TLL Temple Foundation, JJ&R Moores Endowment, and State of Texas.