Design for a Room-Temperature Superconductor

The vision of “room-temperature superconductivity” has appeared intermittently but prominently in the literature since 1964, when W. A. Little and V. L. Ginzburg began working on the problem of high-temperature superconductivity around the same time. Since that time the prospects for room-temperature superconductivity have varied from gloom (around 1980) to glee (the years immediately after the discovery of HTS), to wait-and-see (the current feeling). Recent discoveries have clarified old issues, making it possible to construct the blueprint for a viable room-temperature superconductor.