Although it was discovered more than 20 years ago, a particular type of high-temperature (Tc) superconductor, material that conducts electricity with almost zero resistance, is regaining the attention of scientists at the DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory. Copper-oxide compounds, called cuprates, operate at temperatures warmer than traditional superconductors but still far below freezing. Understanding the mechanism for these superconductors may one day help scientists design superconductors able to function closer to room temperature for applications such as more-efficient power transmission. At the state-of-the-art crystal growth facility in Brookhaven's physics building, physicist Genda Gu and his colleagues have perfected the process. The crystals are grown in an infrared image furnace, a machine with two mirrors that focuses infrared light onto a feed rod, heating it to about 3,992 degrees Fahrenheit and causing it to melt. Under just the right conditions, Gu and his colleagues can make the liquefied material recrystallize as a single uniform crystal. Each crystal takes about a month to make, with precise control over growth temperature, atmosphere, and other factors.