Search for Superconductivity in Extraterrestrial Materials: An Electro-Magnetic Phase Transition with Spin-Glass Characteristics

We have established a very sensitive, selective, and non-destructive microwave absorption technique to screen a wide range of different materials for superconductivity. This technique allows for the detection of minute amounts of superconducting material in a non-superconducting matrix and it is an ideal tool for searching for superconducting phases in materials found in nature. Here, we report on electro-magnetic phase transitions in extraterrestrial materials formed under very extreme conditions difficult to replicate in a laboratory. Of particular interest is a phase with a transition temperature of 110 K. The associated field scans are characteristic of a frustrated system. Frustrated systems were reported in magnetic systems (spin glasses) as well as in granular high Tc superconductors (frustrated Josephson Junction networks). We will discuss a procedure to discriminate between those two cases.