high-temperature superconductivity tagged posts

Materials scientists at Argonne National Laboratory synthesized single crystals of a metallic trilayer nickelate compound, which shows similarities to a technologically valuable class of materials called high-temperature superconductors — and with the right ingredients, could potentially become one. Above: The crystal structure of such a compound. Credit: Zhang et. al

A team at DOE Argonne National Laboratory has identified a nickel oxide compound as an unconventional but promising candidate material for high-temperature superconductivity. The team successfully synthesized single crystals of a metallic trilayer nickelate compound, a feat the researchers believe to be a first. “It’s poised for superconductivity in a way not found in other nickel oxides...

(Clockwise from left) Brookhaven Lab physicists Ivan Bozovic, Anthony Bollinger, and Jie Wu, and postdoctoral researcher Xi He are with the atomic layer-by-layer molecular beam epitaxy system used to synthesize more than 2,500 thin films of a copper-oxide compound called LSCO. The team studied LSCO to understand why it can become superconducting at a much higher temperature than the ultra-chilled temperatures required by conventional superconductors. Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory

Understanding this exotic behavior may pave the way for engineering materials that become superconducting at room temperature...

In this artistic rendering, a magnetic pulse (right) and X-ray laser light (left) converge on a high-temperature superconductor to study the behavior of its electrons. (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

A team has combined powerful magnetic pulses with some of the brightest X-rays on the planet to discover a surprising 3D arrangement of a material’s electrons that appears closely linked to a mysterious phenomenon known as high-temperature superconductivity. It also resolves an apparent mismatch in data from previous experiments and charts a new course for fully mapping the behaviors of electrons in these exotic materials under different conditions.

“This was totally unexpected, and also very exciting…Nobody had seen this 3D picture before,” said Jun-Sik Lee, at SLAC...