Discovery of plutonium-based superconductivity

The discovery of superconductivity in single crystals of PuCoGa₅ with transition temperature T_c = 18.5 K is discussed. The existing data lead to the speculation that the superconductivity in PuCoGa₅ may be unconventional. In such a scenario the properties of PuCoGa₅ would be intermediate between those of isostructural UCoGa₅ and CeCoIn₅, more heavily studied f-electron materials.