Disorder and Superconductivity: the relation of crystal structure and magnetism to superconductivity

非技术摘要：弗吉尼亚大学材料研究部凝聚态物理计划的这一奖项支持新型超导体的中子散射研究，以研究无序和超导性的复杂相互作用，并在尽可能小的尺度上探索微观相互作用的性质。超导性是以零电阻为特征的物质状态。具有这种特性的材料可以潜在地缓解未来世界的一些能源挑战和运输需求。自从大约100年前首次发现超导体以来，许多超导体已经在实验室中合成，从而发现了非常复杂的现象。在1957年，巴特尔库珀和施里弗发展了一个理论，充分解释了导致简单金属超导性的机制。如今，超导性已在远离简单金属的材料中发现，该项目的目标是提供数据，以帮助理论理解其非常规性质和机制。更广泛的影响是培养未来一代的科学家，他们将使用复杂的表征技术，为物理学的重要领域做出贡献。技术摘要：该奖项来自材料研究部凝聚态物理计划，支持弗吉尼亚大学基于BiS 2构建块的新型超导体的合作研究。这些材料表现出结构与超导转变温度的强耦合。研究人员操纵材料的晶体化学，以调整绝缘，半导体或金属，非磁性或磁性状态之间的基态。散射技术（中子），包括对密度函数（PDF）技术被用来研究的结构和磁性。研究人员在局部原子结构、声子和磁动力学表征方面具有互补的专业知识。 这种全面的方法的目的是阐明配对机制，并产生声子/磁激发数据的理论模拟。

Non-technical abstract:This award from the Condensed Matter Physics Program of the Division of Materials Research to the University of Virginia supports neutron scattering studies of novel superconductors to investigate the intricate interaction of disorder and superconductivity, and to probe the nature of the microscopic interactions at the smallest scale possible. Superconductivity is the state of matter characterized by zero electrical resistance. Materials carrying this property can potentially mitigate some of the world's energy challenges and transportation demands in the future. Since its initial discovery about 100 years ago, many superconductors have been synthesized in the laboratory leading to discoveries of very complex phenomena. In 1957, Bardeen Cooper and Schrieffer developed a theory that explains adequately the mechanism that leads to superconductivity in simple metals. Nowadays, superconductivity has been found in materials that are far from simple metals and the objective of this project is to provide data to help with theoretical understanding of their unconventional properties and mechanisms. The broader impact is to train future generation of scientists who, using sophisticated characterization techniques, will contribute to important areas of physics.Technical abstract:This award from the Condensed Matter Physics Program of the Division of Materials Research supports the University of Virginia on a collaborative study of new classes of superconductors, based on BiS2 building blocks. These materials exhibit strong coupling of the structure to superconducting transition temperature. The investigators manipulate the crystal chemistry of the materials to tune the ground state between insulating, semiconducting or metallic, non-magnetic or magnetic states. Scattering techniques (neutrons) including pair density function (PDF) techniques are used to study the structural and magnetic properties. The investigators have complementary expertise in local atomic structure, phonon and magnetic dynamics characterization. The objective of this comprehensive approach is to shed light on pairing mechanisms, and generate phonon/magnetic excitations data for theoretical simulations.