Preliminary studies of magnetic field facilitation of electric conduction in electrically switched "on" dye films that may be room-temperature superconductors.

Abstract

Some organic dyes of a double diazo structure, pressurized into thin films, show trapping of magnetic flux at room temperature, suggestive of the behavior of type 2 superconductors. Some also show switching from low to high electrical conductivity at a voltage threshold, like amorphous inorganic semiconductors. An applied magnetic field facilitates switching, as well as current flow after switching, in a dye that traps magnetic flux but not in a dye of almost similar structure that does not trap magnetic flux. For best results, the magnetic field should be applied before switching and in a direction perpendicular to current flow. The magnetic field effects observed in the dye films at room temperature may be analogous to "anomolous" magnetic phenomena observed in metallic superconductors and/or in superconducting Josephson junctions at low temperatures. The implied possibility of superconductive mechanisms of biomagnetic effects, and apparent relation to the electrical switching seen in wet melanin, give the findings biological relevance.