Woodstock of physics

However, in June 1986, K. Alex Muller and Georg Bednorz working in IBM Zurich broke the record of critical temperature superconductivity in lanthanum barium copper oxide (LBCO) to 35 K above absolute zero, which had remained unbroken at 23 K for 17 years.

The meeting caused a surge in mainstream media interest in superconductors, and laboratories around the world raced to pursue breakthroughs in the field.

So in the follow-up March APS meeting at New Orleans a special evening session called Woodstock of Physics-II was hastily organized to highlight the synthesis and properties of these new, first-ever 'triple digit superconductors'.

Additional researchers including Allen M. Hermann (at that time at the University of Arkansas), the co-discoverer of the thallium system, and Laura H. Greene (then with AT&T Labs) were panelists.

On March 5, 2007, many of the original participants reconvened in Denver to recognize and review the session on its 20-year anniversary;[2] the "reunion" was again chaired by Maple.