A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (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. We're very hopeful that all we have to do now is find the right electron concentration."
A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (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. We're very hopeful that all we have to do now is find the right electron concentration."
This nickel oxide compound does not superconduct, said John Mitchell, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow and associate director of the laboratory's Materials Science Division, who led the project, which combined crystal growth, X-ray spectroscopy, and computational theory.
Continue reading at DOE / Argonne National Laboratory
Image: 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, published in Nature Physics.
