EAPSI: Investigating superconductivity in ultrathin materials

EAPSI：研究超薄材料的超导性

• 批准号: 1414995
• 负责人: BenMaan Jawdat
• 金额: $ 0.51万
• 依托单位: Jawdat BenMaan
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-06-01 至 2015-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1414995&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Investigating; superconductivity; ultrathin; materials

A superconductor is a type of material that allows electricity to flow without any resistance. However, these materials have to be cooled down to low temperatures before they can exhibit this property. Superconductivity at room temperature would vastly improve many aspects of life; long distance power transmission, medical imaging, and transportation are just a few examples. This project will explore the possibility of superconductivity at the interface, or "meeting area", between different materials by employing a technique that allows for the growth of atomically smooth interfaces, called Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). A specialized MBE for the growth of oxide materials will be used under the guidance of Dr. Wei-Li Lee at Academia Sinica in Taiwan.Molecular Beam Epitaxy is a technique that allows for atomic layer-by-layer growth of materials. This allows growth of novel materials that would otherwise be inaccessible by traditional solid state methods, as well as the observation of new phenomena that may not be present in bulk materials. Recently, interfacial superconductivity in thin film materials has gained great interest due to several observations of significantly elevated Tc. Materials thought to be superconducting via an interfacial mechanism include FeSe thin films, RE-doped CaFe2As2, the Sr2RuO4-Ru eutectic system, and LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO). In LAO/STO, superconductivity arises at the interface between two insulators. This project will probe the role of the interface by employing an oxide Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) system to grow materials with a focus on the LAO / STO system. This project aims to characterize the crystal structures as well as the physical properties of the grown films in order to better understand the nature of the superconductivity in this system and others. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the National Science Council of Taiwan.

超导体是一种允许电流流动而没有任何阻力的材料。然而，这些材料必须冷却到低温才能表现出这种特性。室温下的超导性将极大地改善生活的许多方面;长距离输电、医学成像和交通只是几个例子。该项目将探索在不同材料之间的界面或“交汇区”超导的可能性，采用一种允许原子光滑界面生长的技术，称为分子束外延（MBE）。在台湾中央研究院李伟力博士的指导下，将使用一种专门用于氧化物材料生长的分子束外延技术。分子束外延是一种允许原子逐层生长材料的技术。这允许生长传统固态方法无法获得的新材料，以及观察可能不存在于散装材料中的新现象。最近，由于几个观察到显着升高的Tc，薄膜材料中的界面超导性得到了极大的兴趣。被认为是通过界面机制超导的材料包括FeSe薄膜、RE掺杂的CaFe 2As 2、Sr 2 RuO 4-Ru共晶系统和LaAlO 3/SrTiO 3（LAO/STO）。在LAO/STO中，超导性出现在两个绝缘体之间的界面处。本项目将探讨界面的作用，采用氧化物分子束外延（MBE）系统生长材料，重点是LAO / STO系统。该项目旨在表征晶体结构以及生长薄膜的物理性质，以便更好地理解该系统和其他系统中超导性的性质。这个NSF EAPSI奖是与台湾国家科学理事会合作资助的。