Nickel superconductor works above -233°C threshold at normal pressure

Good news! More on superconductors! Cuprate v. nickelate superconductors!

"A team of engineers and physicists at Southern University of Science and Technology, in China, has created a nickel-based material that behaves as a superconductor above the -233°C (40 K) threshold under ambient pressure. In their study published in Nature, the researchers synthesized thin films of bilayer nickelate (La₂.₈₅Pr₀.₁₅Ni₂O₇) and found one that behaved as a high-temperature superconductor. ..."

From the abstract:

"The discovery of bilayer nickelate superconductors under high pressure has opened a new chapter in high-transition temperature (high-TC) superconductivity. However, the high-pressure condition and presence of impurity phases have hindered comprehensive investigations into their superconducting properties and potential applications.

Here, we report ambient-pressure superconductivity onset above the McMillan limit (40 K) in bilayer nickelate epitaxial thin films. Three-unit-cell (3UC) thick La2.85Pr0.15Ni2O7 pure-phase single-crystal films are grown using the gigantic-oxidative atomic-layer-by-layer epitaxy (GOALL-Epitaxy) on SrLaAlO4 substrates.

Resistivity measurements and magnetic-field responses indicate onset TC = 45 K. The transition to zero resistance exhibits characteristics consistent with a Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless (BKT)-like behavior, with TBKT = 9 K.

Meissner diamagnetic effect is observed at TM = 8 K via a mutual inductance setup, in agreement with the BKT-like transition.

In-plane and out-of-plane critical magnetic fields exhibit anisotropy.

Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images and X-ray reciprocal space mappings (RSMs) reveal that the bilayer nickelate films adopt a tetragonal phase under ~2% coherent epitaxial compressive strain in the NiO2 planes relative to the bulk.

Our findings pave the way for comprehensive investigations of nickelate superconductors under ambient pressure conditions and for exploring superconductivity at higher transition temperature through strain engineering in heterostructures."

Nickel superconductor works above -233°C threshold at normal pressure

SUSTech researchers develop ambient-pressure nickelate high-temperature superconductors, launching a new phase of superconductivity research (original news release)

Ambient-pressure superconductivity onset above 40 K in (La,Pr)3Ni2O7 films (no public access)

Schematic of synthesizing (La,Pr)3Ni2O7 on SrLaAlO4 with gigantic-oxidative atomically layer-by-layer epitaxy (GOALL-Epitaxy).