The research was carried out by several educational institutions in the US and China on a number of iron-arsenide compounds, which are related to iron pnictides.
One of the physicists involved and a co-author of the report, Qimiao Si, said: "The evidence from this study bolsters the hypothesis that high-temperature superconductivity in the iron pnictides originates from electronic magnetism."
He explained that the study is the first "direct evidence" that such materials have a magnetic quantum critical point.
The authors explained that this information about high-temperature superconductors could change the way high-speed trains are developed, as well as electric generators and MRI scanners.
This week, a team led by scientists at the US Department of Energy's Center for Emergent Superconductivity found that parent compounds of one type of iron-based superconductor may have electronic liquid crystal states within them.
