MSGID: 1:317/3 64af7e03   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    A foundation that fits just right gives superconducting nickelates a   
   boost    
    It irons out wrinkles in thin films of these novel superconductors so   
   scientists can see their true nature for the first time    
      
     Date:   
         July 12, 2023   
     Source:   
         DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory   
     Summary:   
         Researchers made thin films of an exciting new nickel oxide   
         superconductor that are free of extended defects. This improved   
         the material's ability to conduct electricity with no loss and   
         gave them the first clear view of its properties. They discovered   
         that this nickelate is more like the superconducting cuprates than   
         previously thought.   
      
      
         Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator   
   Laboratory and Stanford University say they've found a way to make thin   
   films of an exciting new nickel oxide superconductor that are free of   
   extended defects.   
      
   Not only does this improve the material's ability to conduct electricity   
   with no loss, they said, but it also allows them to discover its true   
   nature and properties, both in and out of the superconducting state,   
   for the first time.   
      
   Their first look at a superconducting nickel oxide, or nickelate,   
   that does not have defects revealed that it is more like the cuprates   
   - which hold the world's high-temperature record for unconventional   
   superconductivity at normal pressures -- than previously thought. For   
   instance, when the nickelate is tweaked to optimize its superconductivity   
   and then heated above its superconducting temperature, its resistance   
   to the flow of electric current increases in a linear fashion, just as   
   in cuprates.   
      
   Those striking similarities, they said, may mean these two very different   
   materials achieve superconductivity in much the same way.   
      
   It's the latest step in a 35-year quest to develop superconductors that   
   can operate at close to room temperature, which would revolutionize   
   electronics, transportation, power transmission and other technologies   
   by allowing them to operate without energy-wasting electrical resistance.   
      
   The research team, led by Harold Hwang, director of the Stanford Institute   
   for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) at SLAC, described their work   
   today in the journal Nature.   
      
   "Nickelate films are really unstable, and until now our efforts to   
   stabilize them on top of other materials have produced defects that are   
   like speed bumps for electrons," said Kyuho Lee, a SIMES postdoctoral   
   researcher who contributed to the discovery of superconductivity in   
   nickelates four years ago and has been working on them ever since.   
      
   "These quality issues have led to many debates and open questions about   
   nickelate properties, with research groups reporting widely varying   
   results," Lee said. "So eliminating the defects is a significant   
   breakthrough. It means we can finally address the underlying physics   
   behind these materials and behind unconventional superconductivity   
   in general."  Jenga chemistry and a just-right fit The defects, which   
   are a bit like misaligned zipper teeth, arise from the same innovative   
   process that allowed Hwang's team to create and stabilize a nickelate   
   film in the first place.   
      
   They started by making a common material known as perovskite. They   
   "doped" it to change its electrical conductivity, then exposed it to a   
   chemical that deftly removed layers of oxygen atoms from its molecular   
   structure, much like removing a stick from a tower of Jenga blocks. With   
   the oxygen layers gone, the film settled into a new structure -- known   
   as an infinite-layer nickelate -that can host superconductivity.   
      
   The atomic latticework of this new structure occupied a slightly bigger   
   surface area than the original. With this in mind, they had built the   
   film on a foundation, or substrate, that would be a good fit for the   
   finished, spread-out product, Lee said.   
      
   But it didn't match the atomic lattice of the starting material, which   
   developed defects as it tried to fit comfortably onto the substrate --   
   and those imperfections carried through to the finished nickelate.   
      
   Hwang said it's as if two friends of different sizes had to share a   
   coat. If the coat fit the smaller friend perfectly, the larger one would   
   have a hard time zipping it up. If it fit the larger friend perfectly,   
   it would hang like a tent on the smaller one and let the cold in. An   
   in-between size might not be the best fit for either of them, but it's   
   close enough to keep them both warm and happy.   
      
   That's the solution Lee and his colleagues pursued.   
      
   In a series of meticulous experiments, they used a substrate that was   
   like the in-between coat. The atomic structure of its surface was a   
   close enough fit for both the starting and ending materials that the   
   finished nickelate came out defect-free. Lee said the team is already   
   starting to see some interesting physics in the nickelate now that the   
   system is much cleaner.   
      
   "What this means," Hwang said, "is that we are getting closer and   
   closer to measuring the intrinsic properties of these materials. And   
   by sharing the details of how to make defect-free nickelates, we hope   
   to benefit the field as a whole."  Researchers from Cornell University   
   contributed to this work, which was funded by the DOE Office of Science   
   and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's Emergent Phenomena in Quantum   
   Systems Initiative.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Matter_&_Energy   
                   # Physics # Materials_Science # Energy_Technology #   
                   Quantum_Physics   
             o Computers_&_Math   
                   # Spintronics_Research # Computer_Science # Communications   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Periodic_table o Nickel o Noble_gas o Raney_nickel o   
             Triboelectric_effect o Fullerene o Metal o Robot   
      
   ==========================================================================   
      
    Print   
      
    Email   
      
    Share   
   ==========================================================================   
   ****** 1 ****** ***** 2 ***** **** 3 ****   
   *** 4 *** ** 5 ** Breaking this hour   
   ==========================================================================   
       * Salinity_Changes_Threatening_Marine_Ecosystems *   
       Plastic_Pollution_On_Reefs_Mostly_from_Fishing   
       * Detailed_Map_of_the_Heart *   
       Microplastics_Contamination_in_Lakes_and_...   
      
       * Diverse_Organic_Material_On_Mars *   
       How_the_Immune_System_Can_Alter_Our_Behavior *   
       Ocean's_Color_Is_Changing_Due_to_Climate_Change *   
       Start_of_Anthropocene_Epoch:_Canadian_Lake_...   
      
       * Pump_Powers_Soft_Robots,_Makes_Cocktails *   
       Rat_Poison_--_Neurotoxicant_--_In_Birds_of_Prey   
      
   Trending Topics this week   
   ==========================================================================   
   SPACE_&_TIME Mars Space_Missions Big_Bang MATTER_&_ENERGY   
   Nature_of_Water Civil_Engineering Medical_Technology COMPUTERS_&_MATH   
   Artificial_Intelligence Robotics Neural_Interfaces   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Strange & Offbeat   
   ==========================================================================   
   SPACE_&_TIME   
   New_Study_Reveals_Evidence_of_Diverse_Organic_Material_on_Mars   
   Training_Robots_How_to_Learn,_Make_Decisions_on_the_Fly   
   Reinventing_Cosmology:_New_Research_Puts_Age_of_Universe_at_26.7_--_Not_13.7_-   
   -_Billion_Years MATTER_&_ENERGY Pump_Powers_Soft_Robots,_Makes_Cocktails   
   Capturing_the_Immense_Potential_of_Microscopic_DNA_for_Data_Storage   
   Revolutionary_Self-Sensing_Electric_Artificial_Muscles COMPUTERS_&_MATH   
   Bees_Make_Decisions_Better_and_Faster_Than_We_Do,_for_the_Things_That_Matter_to   
   Them Number_Cruncher_Calculates_Whether_Whales_Are_Acting_Weirdly   
   AI_Tests_Into_Top_1%_for_Original_Creative_Thinking Story Source:   
   Materials provided by DOE/SLAC_National_Accelerator_Laboratory. Original   
   written by Glennda Chui. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Kyuho Lee, Bai Yang Wang, Motoki Osada, Berit H. Goodge, Tiffany   
      C. Wang,   
         Yonghun Lee, Shannon Harvey, Woo Jin Kim, Yijun Yu,   
         Chaitanya Murthy, Srinivas Raghu, Lena F. Kourkoutis, Harold   
         Y. Hwang. Linear-in- temperature resistivity for optimally   
         superconducting (Nd,Sr)NiO2.   
      
         Nature, 2023; 619 (7969): 288 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06129-x   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230712124614.htm   
      
   --- up 1 year, 19 weeks, 2 days, 10 hours, 50 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 218/700 226/30 227/114   
   SEEN-BY: 229/110 112 113 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 291/111 292/854   
   SEEN-BY: 298/25 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45 5075/35   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426