Superconductivity Confirmed in a Nickel Oxide
RandomFactor writes:
Ever since the discovery of cuprate (copper oxide) superconductors in 1986, scientists have wondered if oxides of nickel, which sits next to copper on the periodic table, could also be used to form superconducting materials, and more importantly high-temperature superconductors.
Now, post doctoral researcher Danfeng Li and other scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC (named from the original 'Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have reported the first nickel oxide material that shows clear signs of superconductivity.
Research on the new material is in a "very, very early stage, and there's a lot of work ahead," cautioned Harold Hwang, a SIMES investigator, professor at SLAC and Stanford and senior author of the report. "We have just seen the first basic experiments, and now we need to do the whole battery of investigations that are still going on with cuprates."
Among other things, he said, scientists will want to dope the nickelate material in various ways to see how this affects its superconductivity across a range of temperatures, and determine whether other nickelates can become superconducting. Other studies will explore the material's magnetic structure and its relationship to superconductivity.
The newly discovered material, a strontium-doped nickelate is a potential harbinger of what may be a new family of superconductors similar to the cuprates.
Journal Reference
Danfeng Li, et al. 29 August 2019, Superconductivity in an infinite-layer nickelate, Nature, volume 572, pages 624-627. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1496-5
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