The Current that Put the University of Houston on the Map

The University of Houston is home to many society-changing discoveries, but the one it might be most famous for is superconductivity.

A black and white photo of a man wearing glasses and a watch, working on a computer. He is surrounded by various electronic devices, and there is text at the bottom of the image. — Paul Chu has been a faculty member of the Department of Physics since 1979, and was the director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity from 1987 to 2001.

Paul Chu has been a faculty member of the Department of Physics since 1979, and was the director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity from 1987 to 2001.

In 1987, UH physicist Paul C.W. Chu and his team became the first to discover a material capable of superconductivity above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. That opened new doors for the University by bringing state funding for new continued discoveries and drawing the attention of aspiring scientists from around the world to UH.

That breakthrough also led the Texas Legislature to establishing the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH. Since then, Chu and his team have broken more barriers in their mission to achieve room temperature superconductivity, which would revolutionize power grids, quantum computing, transportation, medical imaging and more.

“When everyone else is walking west, you decide to walk east,” Chu said. “That is how you make a discovery.”

“When everyone else is walking west, you decide to walk east. That is how you make a discovery.”

- Paul C.W. Chu, UH Physicist

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A close up of a metal object in the water, which appears to be a radiograph. It is zoomed in, allowing us to see the intricate details of the radiograph, such as its curved shape and intricate patterns.

What is Superconductivity?

Superconductivity allows electricity to move through certain materials without resistance below a critical temperature. Without resistance, electricity can travel without the energy losses that occur in conventional wires.

That property could make power transmission more efficient and enable stronger magnets, compact electric machines and faster transportation. Superconductivity also lies at the heart of the powerful magnets used in magnetic resonance imaging.

But there has always been a catch.

Superconductivity was first discovered in 1911 at temperatures near absolute zero. Reaching those temperatures required liquid helium, an expensive and difficult-to-handle coolant that limited practical uses.

For decades, scientists searched for materials that would become superconducting at warmer temperatures. Reaching 77 Kelvin — the boiling point of abundant and relatively inexpensive liquid nitrogen — became a defining goal.

A person wearing gloves working on a machine in a dark room. The person's hands are visible, and the machine appears to be an electronic device., image

Changing the Temperature of Science

After decades of research, scientists finally found a promising lead in 1986 after researchers reported unusually high-temperature superconductivity in an oxide.

Two men wearing glasses standing in front of a machine. One of the men is holding a metal object in his hand, while the other is looking at it intently. In the background, there are several other machines and lights illuminating the scene. — Professors Liangzi Deng and Paul Ching-Wu Chu developed a pressure-quench protocol to stabilize high-pressure metastable phases at ambient pressure.

Professors Liangzi Deng and Paul Ching-Wu Chu developed a pressure-quench protocol to stabilize high-pressure metastable phases at ambient pressure.

That was good news for Chu, whose earlier work with oxides gave his UH team an immediate advantage. They quickly reproduced the results, but their experiments also revealed something unexpected: a sharp drop in electrical resistance near 90 Kelvin in samples containing a mixture of materials.

The signal vanished as the team purified the compound other researchers were pursuing, suggesting the breakthrough was coming from something else in the sample.

That something else was yttrium barium copper oxide, better known as YBCO. In early 1987, Chu and his collaborators demonstrated stable, reproducible superconductivity at 93 Kelvin.

For the first time, a material remained superconducting above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. The achievement ushered superconductivity into the modern era and turned international attention toward Houston.

A group of people standing next to each other in a room, with a man in the center holding an object in his hand. The image is in black and white, and in the background there are various objects. — Paul Chu with his research team at the University of Houston.

Paul Chu with his research team at the University of Houston.

A man wearing glasses standing in front of a machine in a laboratory. He is surrounded by pipes, meters, and other objects, and there is a wall in the background.

Paul Chu in his lab on March 10, 2001.

Building a Center Around a Breakthrough

The discovery did more than transform a scientific field, it transformed UH.

The Texas Legislature founded the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH in 1987. State and university support provided the facilities, equipment and researchers needed to turn one breakthrough into an enduring institutional strength.

“At that time, whatever you could buy for superconductivity or condensed matter research, you could find it at Houston,” Chu said.

Interest in the university surged, and Chu recalled that applications to the Department of Physics exploded. In fact, leading institutions around the world also tried to recruit him, but Houston offered Chu something no one else could: the chance to build something for the university.

“A colleague told me, ‘In Houston, if you’re good, you may be able to make it a great place,’” Chu said. “That was one of the major reasons I stayed.”

From Breakthrough to Application

The center grew into one of the world’s largest university-based center focused on superconductor research. It has brought together more than 200 faculty members, postdoctoral researchers and students working across superconductivity, energy and health.

Their work reflects the promise that made the 1987 breakthrough so important: move electricity without resistance, reduce wasted energy and enable more powerful technologies.

UH researchers are developing high-performance superconducting tapes for transmission cables, motors, generators and high-field magnets. The technology could also support electric aviation, renewable power systems and nuclear fusion.

A man in a suit and tie wearing glasses holding silver material that looks like tape. — Dr. Venkat Selvamanickam, M.D. Anderson Chair Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Dr. Venkat Selvamanickam, M.D. Anderson Chair Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

The center’s reach even extends into medicine. A UH-led team developed a high-temperature superconducting coil that can help MRI scanners produce higher-resolution images or acquire them faster.

These projects represent the evolution of UH’s superconductivity legacy — from the discovery of a material to technologies intended to move beyond the laboratory.

A machine sitting on top of a table, with a wall in the background.

Instruments used to validate high temperature superconductivity results at record ambient pressure.

A close up of a metal object on a table. It has a cylindrical shape.

Instruments used to validate high temperature superconductivity results at record ambient pressure.

“Together, we’re moving innovations from the lab into real-world systems that strengthen energy infrastructure and open the door to new applications.”

- Engineering Prof. Venkat Selvamanickam

Still Breaking Barriers

Nearly four decades after YBCO, UH researchers are still breaking temperature barriers.

A man in a lab coat in a laboratory. He is wearing glasses and there are various machines in the background, which is slightly blurred. — Professor of Physics Paul C. W. Chu poses for a portrait inside a superconductivity research lab in the Houston Science Center.

Professor of Physics Paul C. W. Chu poses for a portrait inside a superconductivity research lab in the Houston Science Center.

In 2026, Chu, UH physicist Liangzi Deng and their collaborators reported superconductivity at 151 Kelvin under ambient pressure, the highest transition temperature recorded under those conditions.

The team used a pressure-quenching technique to preserve superconducting properties normally achieved only while a material is compressed under enormous pressure. Keeping those properties after pressure is removed makes the material easier to study and potentially more useful.

Room-temperature superconductivity remains the ultimate goal, but Chu is already focused on the next milestone, which is to reach 180 Kelvin within two years.

As UH celebrates its Centennial, superconductivity remains one of the clearest examples of how the university became a global research institution by pursuing innovations long thought impossible but ultimately become part of its legacy.